The Christmas holidays are meant to be a happy occasion spent with the people we love. However, it can also be a risky time for our green living habits and our budgets. In these times of recession, many people will find this Christmas more of a challenge than usual, but the bright side of the financial restrictions is the chance to be more creative and more green in your approach to present-hunting. A green Christmas doesn't mean doing without, but cutting out excess an waste, in a way that is respectful of both the occasion and the environment. And when you cut out the waste, you will also see the benefits in your finances, your stress levels, and your happiness, as well as the environment: many reasons to celebrate!

The Don’t let Devon go to waste campaign has come up with some ideas and suggestions to make everyone’s Christmas both greener and more affordable this year.

Devon County Council's Cabinet Member for Environmental and Regulatory Services, Councillor Roger Croad, said: “As well as the usual important messages to avoid unnecessary packaging, and to budget carefully, the campaign wants everyone to think a little differently this year. Choosing greener gifts can help everyone reduce their carbon footprint, save money and make Christmas a little more special.”

Here are a few suggestions to get you started on the path to a greener Christmas, and well on the way to starting new green traditions of your own.

First of all, think about what Christmas really means to you and your family. Whether you celebrate it for religious reasons or as an opportunity for a holiday with your friends and family, most people don't consider Christmas as a merchandising opportunity to be either green or fulfilling, and neither do they enjoy filling their time with stress inducing busywork.

So focus on what really matters - nobody wants the real meaning of Christmas to get lost in the rush to prepare for it, or in climbing back out of debt after it. So next, consider the gifts. You could make a pact to set a spending limit with your friends and family, limit yourselves to only one item per present, or agree to buy secondhand items as gifts (think 'reduce, re-use and recycle'!) Or you could give gifts of time, cinema gift certificates, vouchers for special days out, or make your own unique gift tokens.

Another option is a gift membership or sponsorship, for example a magazine subscription, club membership, musuem membership or sponsorship of a zoo animal.

Oxfam Unwrapped has an interesting range of charity gifts at www.oxfamunwrapped.com, and for an added environmental benefit, look for gifts made from organic or recycled materials, or with a high recycled content.

The Recycled Products Guide lists 1,000 products made from recycled materials at www.recycledproducts.org.uk, including gift-wrap made from recycled paper.

Special food is often a welcome gift, so why not consider buying local produce: some locally brewed beer or wine, or a hamper of tasty products from your local farmers' market? And of course, there is always the option of chocolate. At www.chocaid.com the organic truffles also raise money for charities.

Next, consider how you can cut down on plastic bags and packaging. We each use an average of 167 plastic bags every year, which makes 10 billion bags for every person in the country. Remember, 'SNUB - Say No to Unwanted Bags!' Reuse your bags, or bring your own reusable shopping bag. Every Christmas, around 125,000 tonnes of plastic packaging are thrown away. So buy your food and drink packaged in recyclable materials, and avoid buying products with unnecessary packaging.

Consider buying special handmade soaps or organic toiletries, avoiding mass produced versions full of added chemicals. Try looking for distinctive and individual Christmas gifts at local craft fairs and markets: it's not only green but a great way of supporting small businesses and local enterprise.

And instead of sending standard Christmas cards, make your own with recycled materials, buy charity cards, or send some of our free e-cards of Devon.

Devon has so many market towns, craft fairs and farmers' markets that are a great sources, for stocking fillers, gifts, and seasonal treats, as well as small independent shops that often stock more unusual items you wouldn't find in a high street chain store.

The internet is also a great place to buy environmentally friendly products such as energy saving gadgets, solar chargers, recycled glassware, composting bins and garden tools, organic fashion and fair trade jewellery from small ethical companies that know how their products and support free trade and environmentally friendly business.

If you are buying gifts for children, consider presents that will encourage an interest in nature and the environment, such as , gardening seeds, a weather station, zoo or natural history museum memberships, and books about animals, wildlife and ecology.

Next, consider your decorations, and set aside some of that time you want to spend as a family for making decorations of your own. If you make your own Christmas decorations, you can reuse or recycle your own materials, and create some truly original family heirlooms, or do something as simple as making cards and gift tags from old cards and wrapping paper. It's obviously unrealistic for most busy families to make everything by hand for Christmas, but if you consider it a new family tradition to spend some time making things together, it's not only greener than buying readymade items from China, but everyone involved gets ot feel some pride and achievement in creating something nice to contribute to the family Christmas.

Finally, consider your Christmas tree. Choose LED lights instead of standard lights because they last longer and if one breaks, the rest of them will not stop working. You can save electricity by turning them off when you go out. If you have a garden, you might want to purchase a living Christmas tree, and plant it in your garden afterwards. If not, you have the choice of a natural or artificial tree.

Some people prefer artificial trees, because they can be reused, but the downside is that they are often made from non-renewable materials and will eventually wear out and need replacing. With natural trees, their environmental friendliness depends on how they are grown and what you can do with them afterwards. Cutting down living trees from forests is only sustainable if the trees were going to be removed anyway in forest thinning or where the forest was created for that purpose as a managed Christmas tree farm. Some local councils have schemes to collect trees after Christmas for wood chipping or composting. Visit www.recycledevon.org for more information on reusing and recycling in Devon.