Reflect

One year, my parents borrowed one from a friend. They used the bulky machine to video my 6th birthday party. I’ve come across the grainy footage a few times since then. As a teen, it was incredibly embarrassing to see younger me in a cute velvet party dress, and hear the sound of my childish voice slightly precociously telling a friend ‘not to worry’, that I’d mop up her spilled drink. Viewing as an adult, it’s amusing to watch my little brother sneakily swipe icing from my birthday cake and gobble up multiple cupcakes when he thought no eyes were on him. It’s a very rare visual snippet of family life in my younger years.

Cut to now. Most of us walk around with video cameras in our pockets that are many times more powerful than the camcorders of old. That video from my childhood feels like a rare and precious artefact. Today, the photo and video albums on my phone are almost endless and the thought of locating one photo, or even one holiday or experience from within its vast depths, is almost overwhelming. For our children, watching themselves on screen isn’t something that makes them feel squeamish. It’s a fact of everyday life. I dread to think how many hours of footage I have of my kids, and I wonder if it will ever be watched or truly remembered. Snippets of ballet classes, swimming galas, diving competitions, school plays, music performances, trips to the zoo, birthday parties, family outings, messing around at home, playing with the cats… you name it, it’s probably on my phone (or more to the point, in the cloud, where I’m paying to store it).

Some of these videos are undoubtedly precious. In one, my then toddlers are looking out of the window on a dark evening talking to the ‘banana moon’. Hearing their little high-pitched voices chatting away to me and the night sky is incredibly evocative, taking me back to a time before they were bickering, albeit lovely, teens. But do I really need the vast amount of footage that I have? With thousands of memories at our fingertips, will I, or they, ever watch most of them? Has the ease with which we document our daily lives left us feeling less connected to the memories we are recording in the moment? How many of these experiences do we remember, not because we see them through our screens, but because we actually lived them?

Particularly at this festive time of year, there are numerous opportunities and events where it might feel natural to pull out our phones, press record and watch the unfolding events not through our eyes, but via the intermediary medium of a screen. Whether it’s the school nativity or family festivities, it can (if permitted) be lovely to record some short snippets. But do we need to document the whole thing through a lens? My challenge to myself this coming year and over the festive break is to strike a balance between capturing memories and living them, put my phone down a bit more, and be more immersed in the present.

Recently, I sat down with my children to create our 2024 wrapped album. It’s something we do annually, picking out one photo for each month of the year and turning the results into a gift for relatives. When we select one single moment from an entire month, pulling out a favourite memory that captures an experience and talk about what we were doing at the time, it gives the snapshot meaning beyond its pixels. For me, it’s a reminder that not all memories need to be stored in infinite quantities.

As parents, we are often the people behind the camera, and maybe we feel the pressure to document every moment as our children grow, particularly the ‘big’ ones. But perhaps sometimes, when we do it to excess, recording experiences can rob both us and them of simply living and feeling them. In 2025, maybe it’s time for us to focus a little bit more on making more memories, not just storing them?

Motivate

One study took the average person’s online storage and calculated how much physical space it would take up if this data was printed out, using the standard size of a photo, CD case and A4 paper. Turns out, it’s three times the height of the Eiffel Tower. Apparently, the Amazon Rainforest would need to be cut down twice to print out all of Europe’s data! But the cloud also has significant environmental impact, with a carbon footprint that now surpasses that of the global airline industry, amounting to 2% of global carbon emissions. Taking a few less photos isn’t going to make a huge dent into this vast issue, but every little helps?

For those who celebrate, Christmas is often a time of indulgence - whether that’s in the form of food, gifts, decorations, or even energy use. The pressure and desire to give, to celebrate, and to create picture-perfect moments can lead us to make choices that, while well-intentioned, have a lasting impact on the planet. Did you know that 500 tonnes of fairy lights are thrown away each year and that, in the UK, we generate the weight of 3.3 million emperor penguins in plastic waste every Christmas? Or that around 227,000 miles of wrapping paper are thrown away each year? That’s 108 million rolls which requires around 50,000 trees to make. According to the Stockholm Environment Institute, our average consumption and spending on food, travel, lighting and gifts over three days of Christmas festivities could result in as much as 650kg of carbon dioxide emissions per person – equivalent to the weight of 1,000 Christmas puddings, and a whopping 5.5% of our total annual average carbon footprint.

Over the last couple of years at Tooled Up, we’ve worked with some inspiring experts in the areas of environmental education, and they’ve been kind enough to give us some top tips on getting through the holidays with a slightly smaller footprint. If we can’t have a white Christmas - given the current weather here, it’s likely to be wet and grey - perhaps we can aim for a green one? Thanks to Dr Verity Jones (Associate Professor in Education who focuses on sustainable futures), Professor Natascha Radclyffe-Thomas (an award-winning expert in sustainable fashion and education for sustainable development) and Jen Gale (founder of Sustainable(ish)), we’ve got a few simple suggestions that will allow us to celebrate sustainably, in style.

We could all consider greening our gift wrap by using tissue paper or brown parcel paper (which can be recycled), or by opting for Dr Jones’s top tip and trying out Furoshiki, a traditional Japanese style of wrapping with beautiful cloth that can be used again and again (for instructions and inspiration, check out About Furoshiki – Furoshiki Wrap Company). Try paper or washi tape rather than plastic, invest in reusable Christmas crackers, and whilst it might sound a bit ‘Blue Peter’, turning old Christmas cards into gift tags is another easy win.

I know that I’m sometimes guilty of buying food that doesn’t get eaten, wasting both food resources and money. I’m not alone. In fact, Dr Jones told me that food waste at Christmas is equivalent to two million turkeys, five million Christmas puddings, 74 million mince pies and £67,000,000 worth of oranges! The BBC’s Christmas portion planner is a great resource to help us work out how much we will need when catering for friends and family. If we do have left overs (it’s almost inevitable), we could try to get creative and make a new family favourite from some of Love Food Hate Waste’s recipes.

Of course, Christmas is a time for giving, but our experts advise that giving new things puts pressure on our already impoverished resources (and family finances) and demands more energy for production. Instead of trinkets that will likely be quickly consigned to the ‘stuff drawer’, we could consider filling stockings with edible treats and charity shop finds. Secondhand shopping can be really rewarding in terms of finding a bargain, as well as aiding the circular economy. It’s even more impactful if the purchase supports a charity. Many charity shops also sell gift vouchers, enabling loved ones to choose their own gift. Professor Radclyffe-Thomas notes that, “If you are buying clothes and gifts, try to avoid adding to the mountains of plastic that are taking over the world - the majority of fast fashion is basically plastic. And if you are about fair wages and labour conditions, do consider shopping with Fair Trade, social enterprise and BCorp vendors”. Dr Jones adds, “If you want a bit of Christmas sparkle for any festive parties coming up, then consider checking out some great apps - Vinted and Depop for fantastic preloved garments – or how about renting something special from the By Rotation?"

For books, check out World of Books, a fantastic source of excellent quality, second-hand books. If, like me and many others, you have a bit of an Amazon habit, the company has a great range of refurbished electronics, from watches to gaming consoles. Find them here. Gifting an experience, rather than an object, is another great solution, as is regifting, or gifting our time. Professor Radclyffe-Thomas also suggests thinking about spending quality time together as a family by making a voucher for a day spent exploring something new together. Cooking or baking for family and friends can also be a sustainable choice. If the giftee is a nature lover, we could consider sponsoring an endangered animal or a local nature initiative. There are lots of eco-conscious gifts on the market (check out this great advice). We should just be careful to avoid ‘greenwashing’ (where companies make misleading claims about their green credentials), consider the carbon footprint of anything that will be airshipped, and buy from reputable suppliers. The UK is also home to many excellent artisans working in ceramics, metals and fabrics, so I might try looking up local maker studios, which often have open studios at Christmastime.

For more amazing Christmas tips, including some fantastic ideas for alternative advent calendars, I’d strongly recommend that our readers check out Jen Gale’s blog on the Sustainable(ish) website, which has various festive focused articles.

Support

There are so many charities to support that it is hard to decide on which one to go for. At Tooled Up, we like the idea of buying from hospital wish lists via Child’s Play Charity, who support hospitals worldwide, or from Choose Love, a charity which sends emergency supplies to displaced families. We also love The Flying Seagull Project, which sends entertainers to refugee camps and provides much needed joy in difficulty. Why not be a Secret Santa for a vulnerable child, with options such as bundles of warm clothes, food for a day, or a Christmas gift? To support children in your own area with a Christmas gift, check out Give Hope from the Children’s Society or Cash For Kids. Should your own child be lucky enough to receive a new games console, and perhaps have an old one that they no longer need, think about donating it to a hospital playroom, through the Get Well Gamers scheme. Or, if someone in your life needs some new socks, check out Stand 4 Socks, where for each pair bought, the company sends a second pair to a homeless person. Given that Tooled Up’s founder, Dr Kathy Weston, is a criminologist, we also always like to recommend the charity Fine Cell Work. This charity trains prisoners in high-quality and creative needlework to foster a sense of hope and self-esteem and equip them with usable post-prison skills; a critical part of rehabilitative efforts. We think that the products that are available to buy are truly stunning and make great gifts.

And what if, after all the hard work and thought, our children are really disappointed by the gifts that they receive? Well, psychologists advise biting back our annoyance and trying not to overreact, scold or compare their reaction to a sibling’s or another child’s. Instead, challenging as it is, we should try to validate their feelings and let them know that we understand that they feel disappointed, whilst trying to help them look at the positives and work through their emotions constructively. In calmer moments, helping them to think about what gratitude means is likely to be a Christmas lesson that lasts. So as the festive season approaches at pace, let's try to remember that the true spirit of the season lies in kindness, giving back, fostering connection and being present.