This year as we’ll be celebrating St Patrick’s day during lockdown, there won’t be the usual mass gatherings and revelries that come with it. However, here are a few traditions we’d like to embed from this year’s quieter version, to carry forward for future St Patrick’s celebrations in years to come - sustainably:
If you are having folks around to celebrate (maximum of six people from two households), try using eco-friendly cleaning products to spruce up and impress – and ensure that your home environment does not present guests with any Covid risk.
A significant coefficient of negative impact on our environment is the widespread purchase of plastic St Patrick’s paraphernalia. Green plastic cups, tablecloths, glitter-covered shamrocks, green beads – look great but are impossible to recycle and can look tatty after one use. Consider instead buying metal, paper or fabric items that can be reused year-after-year and have a far lower carbon footprint as a result.
Try the veggie version of Irish stew – it’s good for you! And pure Genius if you add a little Guinness for richer flavour. Say Slainte (“Good health” in Irish – pronounced Slancher) as you raise your glass – it means ‘your health’. St Patrick spoke Breton as he was from Brittany but it’s very close to Irish, so this is what he would have said to toast you and yours. Go the extra mile and recycle our elf pint glass into a Leprechaun glass by colouring over the candy cane in brown to transform it into a shillelagh (his magic stick).
Ireland is famous for its forty shades of green. Bring the outside in by curating a glorious green display or table centrepiece by using cuttings from your garden. That way your green theme is clean!
Let’s face it, there’s an upside and a downside to meeting up with friends and family to celebrate Irish culture and music on St Patrick's night. Fomenting multiculturalism is always a bonus for any society, as is enjoying the Craic (pronounced ‘crack’ - Irish for ‘fun’) and the Ceilidhs (Irish for ‘dances’ pronounced Kaylees) and cuisine. These are the Upsides. The downsides are the annual spikes in accidents due to drink-driving. This year as we’re staying put to raise a glass to the Emerald Isle, we’re ensuring trees won’t bend any fenders, and due to the curtailing of exhaust emissions, will stay green and not go up as tinder in the over-hot summers we’re creating.
Simply by not taking those short car journeys to parties or to see friends and family for St Patricks, just consider how much CO2 we’ve prevented from rising into the atmosphere where it lingers for 300 years. In a ‘normal’ year, we would generate a significant environmental impact from car fumes alone. There may not be a parade passing through your town centre but remember there’s also no price to pay for raising background therms and worsening climate change.
Don’t leave it to the luck o’ the Irish – preserving the environment requires planning and forethought.
So Go Green for St Patrick’s Day – and celebrate, guilt-free!
