Christmas Tree Decorated with Trash

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How to use holiday seasons for development educational actions

Cake base

1st step –  Choosing a place

Find a place where you can address your target group. We decided for an area in front of the biggest shopping mall in central Prague.The mall also has its own Christmas tree placed in front during the Christmas time.

 2nd step – Choosing time

As we were working on the idea of a Christmas tree decorated with trash, the time might seem obvious – Christmas time. However, choosing the exact day requires planning and good preparation. It is always ideal to have an event on a day when the media are actually looking for some news.

3rd step – Getting permit for the place if necessary

Contact the local authorities or the property owners to make sure you have their permission to perform the event.

4th step – Getting the Christmas tree

We asked an artist to arrange and decorate the tree. We wanted a big tree, so that it would be visible enough in the square in front of the mall. If you do not need such a big tree, you might think of the trees that come in pots and plant it somewhere else when you are done with your action.

5th step – Designing the Christmas tree

We had the Christmas tree designed by two artists, however you can design it yourself. The Christmas tree was decorated with the amount of trash that an average Czech household produces during the Christmas season. The artist cut out quite nice decorations, mainly out of plastic, in traditional Christmas shapes.

The artist had the decorations ready and decorated the tree right in front of the shopping mall.

6th step – Spreading the word about your event

Inform the media about your action. Send a press release to the media and promote the event in social media and anywhere else you can.