‘Wouldn’t it be great if we could make Christmas greener, less wasteful, less stressful and more enjoyable, and have more space to focus on what it’s really all about?’ asks Olivia Warburton in her warmly reviewed new book Dreaming of a Green Christmas. And her answer: ‘Well, I think we can!’
7 December 2025
Not just a dream
In late November the Cornerstone Christian Bookshop and Café in Grove, near the south Oxfordshire town of Wantage, welcomed people to a launch event for Dreaming of a Green Christmas, and Olivia spoke about its inspiration, in conversation with her husband Dal. Where did her concern for creation originate?
‘For me, it was very much looking back to the Celtic Christians: they had this very simple understanding that God created the world. He gave it to us to look after. He loves it, he loves everything that he made, and he wants us to love it and look after it. I’d always had that view. Over the last few years, we’ve seen in the UK that initiatives around recycling and general concern for the world we live in have become much more mainstream, and I’d been tracking along with that and doing different things to try to help.’
But the pandemic proved to be a turning point, or rather a gear change, for Olivia.
‘We were all stuck at home and there were lots of things we weren’t doing that we normally would, and it freed up time. You’re at home, you’re looking at things around you. I started focusing in on plastics, and looking at plastic bottles, plastic packaging, toiletries, and thinking about the sort of eco swaps that we could be making. So, I started to experiment a bit and it went from there. One thing led to another, and I became more and more aware of the small changes we can make every day.’
That’s all very well, said Dal, but when we hear in the news about difficult environmental situations and hard things going on in the world, or the battles at the latest COP conference, it there content in the book that addresses that feeling of overwhelm: that nagging question, is it going to make a difference me changing these plastic bottles?’
To which Olivia had two answers, one she’d already shared in the book and another that came to her in the moment.
God created the world. He gave it to us to look after. He loves it, he loves everything that he made, and he wants us to love it and look after it.
Two copper coins
‘The key Bible passage for me in thinking about all of this,’ Olivia says, ‘is the story of the woman who goes to the temple and she puts in two copper coins. It’s this tiny amount of money, and she puts it into the collection.’
As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. ‘Truly I tell you,’ he said, ‘this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.’
Luke 21:1–4
She continues: ‘The interesting thing, which I mention in the book, is Jesus’ reaction, because he’s watching people putting money in and he comments on the fact that she’s given more than everyone else, because she’d given to the max of what she could, and really sacrificially. Jesus praises her for that. And what he didn’t say was: “I don’t know why she bothered, because that was a tiny amount of money, and that’s not going to make any difference to anybody.” That was the thing he didn’t say!
‘And the extra thought that I’ve now just had is that she came along. What she didn’t do was sit at home saying, “I’ve only got two copper coins, and it’s not worth it.” She didn’t do that; she came along with the feeling I’m going to give it because I can, and I’m going to give it in faith.’
What the widow didn’t do was sit at home saying, ‘I’ve only got two copper coins, and it’s not worth it.’
The temptation to disengage
‘For us,’ Olivia says, ‘it is so easy when we look at the climate crisis and all the things that are wrong in the world, to say, “I can’t. What is one person going to be able to do to make a difference here? This is way beyond me.”
‘It’s so easy to disengage, and disengagement can even become a bit of a coping strategy when we feel overwhelmed.
‘But I think God’s economy works differently. God just wants us to do what we can, even if we feel it’s not much. Even if it’s tiny and imperfect, I think he wants us to do it anyway, and he notices. That belief underpins all of my thinking, and when you get lots of people doing a little it does add up and it does make a difference.’
When the conversation was opened up to the floor, the questions for Olivia came from all directions, including one that might have cast doubt on some of the tips in the book: had she really tried them all out herself? Yes, of course she had!
It is so easy when we look at the climate crisis and all the things that are wrong in the world, to say, ‘I can’t. What is one person going to be able to do to make a difference here?’
Trial, error, and incremental change
‘I haven’t put any tips in the book that didn’t work! But sometimes there was a bit of trial and error.
‘Going back to those toiletries, the journey from shampoo in a plastic bottle to shampoo bars took a few little experiments in terms of different products before I found one that I really liked.
‘With all of this, particularly if you’re changing a product that you normally buy, and you’re thinking of getting something more environmentally friendly, you do sometimes have to try a few options before finding what’s right for you. The risk is that you try one alternative and if you don’t like it you give up and return to the original. But it’s important to persevere, because all of these products tend to be improving all of the time, and a lot of the green technology is improving as well, like EVs.
‘Some of these things are incremental too. It’s easy to say if I don’t find something that’s perfect, I’m not going to change anything. But actually, if you find something that’s 50% better or 25% better, or even 5% better, why not give it a go and move in that direction and accept that it can take time and experimentation.’
I haven’t put any tips in the book that didn’t work! But sometimes there was a bit of trial and error.
Right: Olivia at the book launch, along with her husband, Dal.
A Christmas pick-and-mix
Olivia’s slim little book will:
- help you navigate Advent and Christmas more sustainably and with less stress
- give you 111 easy, practical eco-tips to reduce, reuse, recycle, and generally go greener
- recap the spiritual principles relating to creation care and why it’s important
- provide ‘Take a break’ reflective moments focused on God’s love for creation
- kickstart positive, manageable habits that can be taken forward into the new year
The book is divided into sections, and the tips are organised by section, so if you’re particularly interested in Christmas trees or present wrapping, or lights and decorations, you go to that section.
But, importantly, for Olivia, ‘It doesn’t say this is the one thing you need to do; it’s giving suggestions and alternatives. You could do this or that, and if that doesn’t work for you, you could try this… The whole idea of this book is not that it puts pressure on people and adds more of a burden at what can already be a stressful, pressured season. It’s very much about opening up some options and choices for people who are feeling like they’d like to do things a little bit differently.’
