By Becky Burchell

Stuff. It’s all around us. We accumulate things, trinkets, presents and prizes as we move through our lives. But what does it really mean to us? And how can we reduce the amount of stuff we consume, to help lower our carbon footprint?

The first thing we learn is that everything we spend money on has a carbon footprint. From clothing to electrical goods, crockery - even emails and experiences have a carbon footprint. To create a theatre show or a football match takes loads of energy before and during the experience (rehearsals, heating and lighting buildings, transport for performers and players etc).
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Is everything we enjoy bad for the planet? 

By Joe Duggan
​Here at Christmas Palace Transition Town, we like to keep it local. We are proud of the exciting range of independent shops and businesses we have, and as we know things are getting more challenging, any initiative that encourages people to shop locally is good by us.

In the past, as well as supporting local businesses whenever we can, we've published a "local and fair" shopping directory and took part in "Small Business Saturday". Other transition towns have also tried different approaches, including the well-known Totnes Pound, Bristol Pound and our local Brixton Pound plus Transition Dorking got Mary Portas to come along and launch their "Golden Ticket" idea.

So that's why when we found out about Holly Smith's initiative we wanted to give it a big plug. Holly tells us: 

"So basically my boyfriend and I set ourselves the challenge of buying all our presents locally this year, and then I thought it would be great to encourage others to do the same! So I set up a Facebook event for it. So far I've just been chatting to local businesses and making sure they know about it but in the next few weeks I'm going to start posting pics from local shops of all the stuff they have for sale, promoting products that people might not know about. "  
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The Crystal Palace Local Christmas Shopping Challenge:

Why not join Holly's Crystal Palace Local Shopping Challenge Facebook event and share your gift ideas with others in the run-up to Christmas? Share the event with friends, and stay tuned to the event page to see more of what's on offer from shops in Crystal Palace!

By Karen Jones

It’s a dark, damp November night, far too warm for the time of year, as we all meet upstairs at Mediterranea to consider the effects our eating habits have on our carbon footprints. It soon becomes apparent that these are complicated and highly personal, with roots embedded deeply in our upbringings, culture, health concerns and emotions...

By Kalina Palka

I'd love to travel less but ...

I want to be a travel writer... swim with dolphins...  see the Galapagos Islands. I work in Crystal Palace but can't afford to live there. I've got a bad knee. I don't like walking in wind. I believe that travel broadens the mind ...

We're playing a game to illustrate the obstacles to reducing the amount of travel we do. Annabel's is the corker:  I'd love to travel less... but I want to travel more!

Dear God, how are we going to change when travel is so entrenched in our culture?