To top off a year of switching the telly off standby, turning down the thermostat and carbon offsetting concern, you can now give a loved one 12 square metres of greenbelt land for Christmas.
Yes, you can help protect London's precious remaining circle of undeveloped land by purchasing bits of it through the Good Gifts catalogue, run by the Charities Advisory Trust. 12 square metres is apparently the size of your average living room. If you're feeling more ambitious, a whole acre will set you back 5 grand.
Unfortunately, you don't get private access to your land nor a special thank you plaque stuck in its mud. All land is held in trust, for perpetuity and the Charities Advisory Trust plans to work with local communities to use the land communally for recreation.
The Council for the Protection of Rural England have voiced their doubts, saying they would prefer greenbelt land to be protected through planning law.
The Hampstead based charity has experience of working with other charities and of environmentally sustainable projects having funded the Green Hotel in India but we hope they're getting CPRE or other appropriate expertise on board to ensure responsible and sustainable management of everybody's greenbelt bits. We'd hate to see a well intentioned, novelty green Christmas gift go bad.
Visit the Good Gifts catalogue here.
