St Patrick’s Day used to be a simple affair. Put on your green hand-me-down geansaí or gúna, maybe go to mass, perahps watch Darby O’Gill and the Little People on TV and eat as much chocolate as you can on your day off Lent. Consumerism has since taken hold and ways to mark Lá Fhéile Pádraig are myriad.
How you celebrate this national holiday can generate a lot of waste. If you want to really honour Ireland this St Patrick’s Day, here’s how to go green without the environmental toll.
Wearing of the green
Wear green this St Patrick’s Day and if you have kids, dress them up too, but wear something you already have. Retailers have spent millions convincing us that celebrating Christmas, Halloween and even World Book Day necessitates buying a special costume. St Patrick’s Day has become part of their sales targets too.
One Irish-owned fast fashion retailer is flogging everything from a ‘Let’s get the Paddy started’ T-shirt to a five-pack of St Patrick’s Day-themed thong underwear. That sequin shamrock tutu dress for kids? The 100 per cent polyester green tulle skirt can’t be recycled. Your child will wear it once and it will end up in landfill.
Day, but make it fashion!
Often depicted with a hat and crozier, St Patrick loved a striking accessory. Chances are his were made from natural materials and designed to last.
Another Irish-owned food and fashion retailer lists no fewer than 70 St Patrick’s Day-related items on its website. You can choose anything from a St Patrick’s Day unicorn veil to a set of plastic press-on nails in “Irish colours and designs”.
There’s nothing lucky or charming about highly flammable polyurethane, plastic and metallized yarn “holiday” accessories. St Patrick’s duds didn’t need a fire safety warning, neither should yours.
Plastic bunting, strings of plastic beads, synthetic feather stoles and glittery cowboy hats, be gone, back to Mardi Gras on Bourbon Street.
Ditch the Irish stew
Restaurant menu boards this weekend will likely tout Irish stew and bacon. Meat-heavy dishes have a far greater environmental toll than vegetarian fare.
Farming animals for meat requires space and huge amounts of water and feed, says the WWF. Producing meat creates vastly more carbon dioxide than plants such as vegetables and alternative sources of protein like grains or legumes such as lentils and beans.
[ Ireland is emerging from winter, but maybe hold off mowing your lawn for nowOpens in new window ]
You could try greening your plate this St Patrick’s Day by swapping meat for a veggie alternative. Try colcannon - that’s mash with spuds, cabbage and spring onions/scallions - or an Indian spud massaman curry.
Take the train
Heading to the parade? Show some love for Ireland’s air quality by ditching the car and taking public transport or car pooling.
Leave the snakes alone
Patrick banished snakes from Ireland, according to lore. Not cool, Patrick. Biodiversity is crucial to our very existence, so just let the worms, snails, insects and birds be. Cobblelocking your drive or nuking your plot with chemicals to kill moss and weeds means you are effectively banishing wildlife from your garden.
[ Rewilding: A meaningful response to tackling the biodiversity crisisOpens in new window ]
Weed killer, insecticide and slug pellets kill the food on which animals like hedgehogs and birds rely. Hedgehog numbers are in steep decline. Many are waking from hibernation right now. Females will be getting pregnant soon too. If a hedgehog or robin eats a slug that’s been poisoned, she may die. We’ve coped without snakes, but let’s not lose any more wildlife this St Patrick’s Day.
