Christmas is a time to be jolly and festive. It's also a time for organisations to tell you not to do things. Earlier today a challenge was laid down at Londonist Towers to find 12 seasonal campaigns (we actually found more) so, without further ado, we gather round and sing of the things a public sector organisation-slash-charity said to us:
Twelve:
Boris wants us to recycle more over Christmas. Rather than send all that wrapping paper, food packaging and the tree — an extra 29,000 tonnes — to landfill, recycling could save councils £2.7m. Recycle for London has more information.
Eleven:
After the packaging's come off and the food's been cooked, don't chuck the fat down the sink. It blocks up the sewer and makes Thames Water very unhappy, as we showed you in a delightful video last year. And now there's a sequel.
Ten:
Put together a 'grab bag' of essentials in case of severe weather, power cuts or flooding this winter. The British Red Cross advise a torch, emergency contact details, your phone, toiletries, first aid kit and toiletries. No, really, they do.
Nine:
Here's an annual favourite: don't drink and drive. Only twats do.
Eight:
Rape Crisis are distributing posters with the slogan "Drinking is not a crime. Rape is", to raise awareness around consent. Lambeth Council is also running its Know the Difference campaign over the holidays.
Seven:
Gobbling down the turkey (sorry) and a traditional Christmas dinner could involve ingesting twice the daily recommended salt intake, according to Consensus Action on Salt and Health.
Six:
Surrey Police have put together a truly, truly awful video to highlight the importance of not leaving presents out on display. Burglars can't help themselves when faced with regional-accented gifts.
Five:
Here's a much nicer video: Dermot O'Leary asking you to please not buy a puppy off the internet.
Four:
No matter how cold it is or how pissed you are, don't get an illegal minicab... (thanks, TfL).
Three:
The London Fire Brigade would like you to pump money into the local economy by getting a takeaway when you've had a few, rather than setting fire to your kitchen by trying to rustle up a snack at home.
Two:
Thames Valley Police are another group warning about the booze — you're a much easier target for criminals when you're three sheets to the wind.
One:
By this point you may have lost your entire Christmas spirit and be considering barricading yourself in your bedroom for a week. In which case, we give you Buy Nothing Christmas, an antidote to consumerism.
Photo by bendylan from the Londonist Flickr pool
