David Ruffley MP has today spoken of his desire to see Suffolk residents embracing green initiatives and thinking this Christmas.

David said:

'Christmas is a wonderful time of year; a time for family, friends and celebration. However, we must not forget about our environmental responsibilities during the festive period.

'In Britain each year, we send each other somewhere in the region of 1 billion Christmas cards, wrap our presents in more than 80 square kilometres of wrapping paper, and empty more than 20 million glass jars and bottles over the festive period. If we recycled just half of this we could make a massive difference.

'This Christmas I hope the people of Suffolk join me in doing their bit for the environment.

'Last year I recycled all my Christmas Cards via the Woodland Trust at the local Tesco store in Bury St Edmunds. I was so impressed with the initiative that this year I have arranged to have Woodland Trust bins in my Constituency Office so that members of the public who can't take their cards all the way to Bury St Edmunds or Stowmarket can drop in and recycle their cards there.

'I would also urge people to consider the merits of a real Christmas Tree rather than a fake one. A real tree can be replanted and reused in future years or recycled and turned into soil improver, a fake tree on the other hand will end up in a landfill when it reaches the end of its useful life.

'In my constituency we are lucky enough to have the Rougham Estate- one of the finest growers of Christmas Trees in the UK. For the third time in five years the Rougham Estate is supplying 10 Downing Street with the tree that stands outside the front door.

'When we all do our big Christmas food shopping for the festive period we should consider taking our own carrier bags; not only will this help the environment but in local Tesco stores you will receive a 'green' Club Card point for every bag you reuse.

'During the festive period we will all be at home much more than normal and, therefore, the amount of energy we use will go up. The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs recently announced that the domestic sector accounts for 29 percent of all carbon dioxide emissions- that is more than from road transport.

'We should all keep this in mind during the Christmas period. When leaving the room think about switching the light off or better still installing energy saving bulbs. If every conventional light bulb in domestic households was replaced with an energy efficient one, total demand for electricity would fall by 3.5 percent.

'When making a pot of tea or coffee after Christmas lunch only boil the water that you will use- if we did this with every cup of tea we made we would save enough electricity in a year to run half of all the street lighting in the Country.

'Being green this Christmas isn't just better for the environment- it's cheaper for the individual.

'Christmas is a very special time of year, let's remember this year that we are all in this together and we all can, and must, play our part in working towards a cleaner, greener future.'