Christmas is typically a time of excess. An indulgent frenzy of rich food, gifts and shiny decorations justified by our favourite seasonal expression of “It’s Christmas!” Without judgement for how you decide to indulge this Christmas, here are some ideas for a more Sustainable Christmas…
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Four Ways to Activate your Inner Festive “Green-up and have a Sustainable Christmas”
1. Use Eco-friendly Recycled Paper
We all know how much paper waste is produced following a present unwrapping session. Many wrapping papers contain glitters, metals or plastics so although it seems like paper, it cannot be recycled. A simple, elegant and sustainable gift wrap option is to use brown paper and add natural fibre ribbons or even springs of fir trees to embellish the gift. Many companies produce eco-friendly compostable wrapping paper such as Re-Wrapped or Eco-Wrap. Often paper in your local supermarket is labelled as recycled or recyclable, so this is a good place to start too, if more convenient.
2. Agree to Raid the Charity Shop for Sustainable Christmas Gifts
This is a fun challenge where families agree to spend a set budget on gifts from charity shops. You often find really beautiful and original items, such as antique crystal glasses or designer vintage clothes.
The beauty of shopping in this style is that you contribute some money to a good cause, which really gives you the Christmas spirit. Additionally you are recycling items, which is far more eco-friendly than creating something new. Be warned, hunting through the wonders of charity shops can get competitive and addictive
3. Give each other Sustainable Christmas Experiences rather than Physical Gifts
Instead of buying more things people don’t need, why not treat each other to an experience? Often we do not have space in our homes for more ‘stuff.’ Therefore, it is refreshing to simplify your life by receiving or giving something to create a memory. It also means once the excitement of Christmas is over, you have something to look forward to or enjoy with your loved ones.
Our favourite ideas are annual memberships for museums, gym memberships or online yoga apps subscriptions. Alternatively, gift meals out together or handwritten vouchers for a treat at your favourite coffee shop.
4. Source your Sustainable Christmas Dinner through Local Suppliers
Where possible and when budgets allow, source locally and reduce the carbon miles of your food. Meat travels thousands of kilometres to reach a supermarket, making the environmental cost of it high. Additionally, supermarket meat is often produced in ‘mega farms’ where is it perhaps unclear how sustainably the meat was processed.
Butchers are generally experts in knowing exactly where their produce has come from and how it was farmed. We recommend that you talk with your butcher to give yourself, as the consumer, more control over your choice. We love the personal nature of visiting a butcher where your meat purchase will come with loving advice on how to cook it. In our experience, butchers often throw in some freebies, such as bones for a dog or bone broth.
We understand it could be expensive to shop this way, and potentially prohibitive for a larger family on a budget. In this case, we like the idea of eating less, but better quality meat and supplementing with a plant-based diet.
