When you think of Christmas, you think of green and red… the tree, the Christmas lights, the Santa hats. But have you thought about how to actually be green?
Read on to find out how you can reduce your holiday waste this Festive Season and why it matters!
Steps To Being Greener This Christmas
Get creative with gift wrapping
Last year, we threw away 108 million rolls of wrapping paper in the UK! Why not try using creative materials to wrap your presents this year? Try using old maps, magazines, newspapers, scarves, fabric, handkerchiefs and reusable tins and jars. Check out some ideas here.
Visit second-hand shops
Save money by going thrift shopping, find pre-loved classic books, vintage accessories and even “new” second-hand items.
Charity shops are great for finding unwanted gifts, that someone you know might just love!
You can even do your second-hand shopping online, with Scottish-based Social Enterprise One Cherry.
Home composting
Instead of throwing vegetable peelings away, turn them into compost. It’s great for your garden and even better for the environment. These items can be added to your compost bin too: egg boxes, scrunched up newspaper, tea bags and fruit scraps.
Click here to see full list of compostable items.
Buy less
Let’s be honest, you probably don’t need another Christmas jumper! Go easy on the new decorations too… nope, you don’t need more tinsel. Get creative by making your own! Here’s some inspiration.
Remember your re-usable shopping bags
We all have a cupboard in our kitchen filled with plastic shopping bags. When shopping for Christmas presents, decorations and food this festive season, try to remember to take bags with you.
If you do have to buy plastic bags, remember to keep them away from the recycling bin, they tend to clog up recycling systems.
Freeze leftover food
Plan ahead, eat everything from your freezer before Christmas! You’ll thank yourself when there’s plenty of space for leftovers on the 26th!
Follow this link for some great festive leftover recipes!
Embrace the washing up gloves
The thought of doing the dishes after Christmas dinner may seem daunting. It can be pretty tempting to bust out the plastic plates, cups and cutlery to save on dishes, but we promise that the planet will thank you for it if you make the effort to skip the disposables!
(Or opt for eco-friendly compostable products that can go straight into your compost bin!)
And finally, remember to relax!
So you’ve put up your decorations, bought your presents and started emptying the freezer to make space for the 26th.
We know that among the chaos of planning, it can be pretty easy to forget to enjoy the small things. So if you take one thing from this blog post, try to remember to kick back and relax this Christmas.
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