Top 15 Tips on How to Have a Greener Christmas
Oh no! It’s that time of year again. The time when people
spend too much, eat too much and fart way too much. I can't help the farting problem but would love to give some ideas on how to consume less
and have a more eco-friendly Christmas to boot. I have tried some of these
myself and even small changes can make a big difference!
1) Christmas Parties
Avoid disposable plates at all costs. Bring out the
mismatched cutlery and plates for sit down meals. Who cares if it doesn’t look
perfect? Worried about the washing up? Why not get some volunteers to help.
Check out my recent post on products containing 100% recycled plastics, including washing up bottles. Why not grab a few Scrubbies
too? (A natural, washable, compostable wash cloth).
The pretty ‘unsponge’ cloth can be a talking point whilst doing the dishes! We make our own now too - see our store for more!
If you are keen to use something more lightweight for
holding onto at parties (buffet type events for example) then check out some biodegradable
wheat straw or sugar cane plates. Or look out for bamboo plates which are
re-usable too.
You can even buy plates made from palm leaves which look quite cool.
Could start a trend among your friends perhaps! I haven’t tried any of these so
haven’t reviewed any but a quick search on Amazon for compostable plates
can bring up a lot of choices.
Check out non plastic straws including
toughened glass straws, bamboo or silicone straws.
2) Christmas Crackers
Expensive these things aren’t they? Filled with plastic
gifts and corny jokes too but for many they are still a tradition.
For a
greener option look out for plastic free crackers, word is some of the stores
are beginning to stock them. Some shops, like John Lewis, WH Smith and
Lakeland even sell ‘fill your own’ crackers if you wanted to add that more
personal touch.
Why not check out Etsy too for Homemade Christmas crackers. You may find some greener alternatives in there or get some
inspiration for making your own.
If you use chocolates as fillers for your home
made crackers, you can recycle foil wrapped chocolate wrappers but bunch them
up into a ball first as small pieces can block the conveyor belts at recycling
centres.
3) Advent Calendars
You can make your own too using card from cereal boxes perhaps, plus some artwork, pics of the family maybe, fave cartoon character images etc for top and bottom.
Cut card into strips and slot together to make 24 windows (make the outer frame 1st then cut grooves into length & width of card to make your inner sections - fill with choccies or whatever you like!) Score around 3 sides of each window to make a flap.
4) Christmas Decorations
Rather than buying lots of synthetic products for your tree
why not make your own? Something as simple as fir cones, dried orange segments,
felt or wool animals or even sticks of cinnamon or chains of popcorn can help. Or
why not try some edible tree decorations such as cinnamon or gingerbread
biscuits?
Children love making things so see if they can come up with
any ideas. Paper chains used to be the firm favourite for keeping the kids
quiet. You can make your own glue
too just using flour and water to cut down on plastic tape. Or try out some
origami snowflake decorations using tips from You-tube.
5) Eco Friendly Christmas Trees
Live or artificial? Artificial trees are sadly plastic
however they do have the advantage of being used year in year out. Bored of
your tree? Why not find a home for it via recycle (we did). Someone out there
may love a free tree to adorn their homes.
Meanwhile, for living trees it really is sad when you see
how many are scrapped each year – it breaks my heart. A news article in 2006 reported that 'Six million trees are thrown out after Christmas, creating more than 9,000 tonnes of additional waste. That’s about five times the weight of the London Eye!' (source The Independent.)
Some rental tree farms will let you choose your tree or even
rent the same one back again the following year. You will need to keep them
alive as they will be returned to the farm for safe keeping.
Some councils offer xmas tree recycling programs where you can have your tree shredded and recycled into
wood chip. It breaks my heart but this is more preferential to them going to
landfill.
An alternative is to plant in your garden or you can
place an ad on freecyle or freelywheely to see if anyone has space on their land to plant your tree.
The wildlife will thank you for it. If it’s taken by someone near you for
replanting you could also watch it grow as you walk past. Old tree, new life!
6) Environmentally Friendly Wrapping Paper
Go old school and use brown wrapping paper. It can be jazzed
up using cut out old xmas cards as gift tags and can be tied with old ribbon or
string. Or brown paper tape can be used. Some folks have a go at potato
printing to add a little personal touch, maybe get the kids to do a smiley face
and dip it into yellow paint. Stars can be another idea for a simple added
touch.
The brown paper can be recycled or in good condition can be
used again next year. Using ribbon or string crossed at the front and back means
you don’t have to use plastic laden tape either.
Or use wrapping paper made from magazines. It’s more personalised then and doesn’t have to be all about Father
Christmas and reindeer which is all made up anyway, I mean just how many
reindeer would you need to pull along a
fat geeza in the sky?
What’s wrong with normal wrapping paper I hear you ask?
Sadly some wrapping paper can’t be recycled, especially the type that has a shiny coating. The
best test, if you scrumple it and it pings back it is not suitable for
recycling. This BBC article on Christmas wrapping paper might be worth
a read also.
Alternatively, you can buy recycled wrapping paper and gift
tags at Ethical Superstore. Some
wonderful tips here on eco-friendly wrapping paper including using old maps, some fabric plus a list of other
options to get recycled paper, if you decide to do that too.
7) Non Plastic Gift Ideas
Give a gift of a day out for friend or relative maybe.
Choose something they love such as a chocolate tasting day, spa visit, boat
trip, balloon rides or more. Or place a gift token in their card for them to
shop in their favourite store.
A great idea is to send a box of ‘treat days’. Each envelope
may contain a coupon or IOU. For example, I will make you a home-made chocolate
cake, I treat you to a coffee and croissant, today we will go bowling – that
sort of thing. The gift owner can then call in their favours when they’re ready
or like a grandma did in Australia you can set 12 treats with each promised
treat to be opened at the beginning of each month. Brilliant huh?
Green Gifts to Buy - In my reviews section I have listed a few plastic
free or plastic reduced products which could be of use for practical ideas. All products have been tested by me and more reviews will follow soon!
Examples include bamboo toothbrushes, cotton buds, non
plastic razors, wax wraps, scrubbies plus silicone storage sets with grocery
mesh bags.
8) Make Your Own Gifts
Ideas include home made products such as cookies, soaps, marmalade,
marzipan sweets and fudge and so much more. The Spruce Crafts has some great
projects you can try or Sainsbury’s Edible Gifts for Christmas for some yummy ideas. If you’re using glitter
for craft projects remember these are often made from plastic – Moral Fibres suggest some places where you can
buy eco friendly glitter.
Here are some fantastic craft ideas to make at Christmas time – I love the idea of making a badge out of
an old bottle top and snippets from old cards on top or the recycled
paper beads using paper from glossy magazines, strung together as miniature
garlands.
9) Sending Festive Cards
A lot of people have switched to online e-cards which helps
reduce use of trees. If you prefer to send a card choose some that support
charities and have the FSC logo on the back (Foresty Stewardship Council) to
ensure the trees are properly managed. Or check out recycled cards, at least
you know the card stock has had a previous life and then recycle when done or
use as home made gift tags for next year.
Glittered cards may not be recycling friendly as glitter is often plastic coated. You can however buy eco friendly glitter to cut down on the plastic consumption.
Tree Cards are a
great idea, they are plastic free and 100% recycled, plus they plant a tree
with every order and include a seed token. What a great idea!
They are individually priced with lots of designs (bees,
cartoons, inspirational messages and animals) and you can also buy boxes of 10
in a limited design pack. Not all of them are Christmas, there are some thank
you, anniversary and good luck cards in there too.
10) Eco Friendly Toys
For young ones, ditch the plastic and buy wooden models.
Little trains with wooden blocks as the tracks, can be fun for your little one to
build and make their own choo choo noise. Get them back into reading books or
buy them materials for a craft project you can do together.
I loved the suggestion that was going round on Facebook. Buy
4 things for your child, something they want, something they need, something to
wear, something to read.
It can be hard of course if their friends get lots more than them, but I wonder
how many of those friends still value what was bought for them 2 weeks later
and how many items just sit at the back of the cupboard?
11) Give Away / Sell Unwanted Items
Have so many things collecting dust? Don’t throw away old
items. They can be sold online (facebook even has a marketplace available free
to sell off unwanted stuff locally) or place an ad in your local store’s notice
board to get some local customers. Send a message too to family and friends. If
there’s enough interest maybe you can host a toy swap or clothes swap party
just to give unwanted items a new lease of life.
Donate any you can also to
charities. In a post called ‘Secondhand September’ it was shocking to learn just how many clothes are disposed
of instead of being passed onto others. If fabric is unusable they can be
used for rags instead. Some eco sites even have videos on how to turn them into
re-usable grocery bags (a home-made project for self later perhaps!)
I remember once turning an old woollen sweater into a dog
pillow just by cutting the arms off and sewing the neck and arms together. The
stuffing can be placed through the neck hole before sewing! For those wanting
to minimise plastic fibres avoid polyfill stuffing.
Look out for recycled wool
fibre, cotton fibre or kapok.
12) Buy Antiques or Vintage Goods
Instead of buying new, why not visit an antique shop for
some gift ideas? The product has had a previous life, is probably better quality
than items produced today and more importantly won’t be made entirely of
plastic! Plus, who knows, maybe it will increase in value over the years too.
You may see a pre-loved
vintage item at a bargain price in your local charity shop!
13) Shop Locally or Bake
Farm shops are a great way to buy good quality produce. Our
local one has a great plastic free fruit and veg section. If you do shop at the
supermarket take along some of your own mesh bags to use for loose veg. I
noticed carrots sold loose were cheaper than packaged in our local supermarket
which is a good turnaround.
Sainsbury’s are currently selling mesh bags made
from recycled plastic (PET bottles in a previous life) for 30p a bag. The silicone storage set I reviewed comes with several mesh bags for your grocery shop
which I carry around in my handbag.
Reduce food waste by offering left over meals for guests
travelling home. You can make your own mince pies too to cut down on the
plastic trays that often come with mince pies. Home cooking always smells nice
and homely and the whole family can pitch in too.
14) Donate to a Good Cause
Ordering gifts from charity gift stores is a great way to
treat your relatives and giving back to charity at the same time. Examples
include RSPB
(birds), RSPCA (animals), Woodland Trust
(trees) and WWF (nature).
If you have a lost loved one why not donate a tree
in their honour through the Woodland Trust? RSPB can accept memorial donations
and they have a book of remembrance at selected reserves.
Children often love animals so sponsorships may be a great
idea. A stuffed toy is usually included in the membership pack. Try WWF Adopt an Animal -
ideas include a penguin, jaguar, polar bear, tiger and so much more. Maybe your
child can save up their pocket money to keep the sponsorship going, help them
to put a budget aside to look after their adopted animal for future years.
Adopt a bee kit from Hilltop Honey is a novel idea. You get a newsletter, a
passport with bee facts, pack of seeds, a mini pot of honey and a bee badge all
in a little gift box. 25% go to the Honeypot Children’s Charity.
15) Take Time Out for You
Take pleasure in the simple things. It’s hard during the
rush of festivities to get everything just right. Frazzled tempers? Stressed
out nerves? And we haven’t even begun yet! For me, my simplest pleasure is just
taking a walk on Christmas Day. I especially love a chilly, clear, blue sky
sunny day. Completely different to the White Christmas others may dream of (although
I do love the pretty patterns sharp frost makes on the trees!)
So think of what takes you to your happy place, give
yourself time to breathe and remember to ask for little helpers to pitch in.
Folks work harder when they’re tasked with something they enjoy. Some prefer
washing up, others drying, some love a good hoover up, work on people’s
strengths. As long as people know who should be doing what it should all come
together. Then you can take that peaceful moment to yourself.
Martin Lewis, a well known Money Saving Expert bought it
home to me just what Christmas means, and it’s not all about presents. It’s
probably more about ‘being present’!!
Useful links for an eco friendly Christmas:
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