I don’t mean to alarm anyone, but Christmas is coming. Now, I love Christmas. ‘Tis the season to eat chocolate for breakfast and put Tia Maria in your hot chocolate after all. But I’m not a fan of how wasteful Christmas can be or how much plastic tat gets thrown around at this time of year. So today I’m sharing my guide on how to have an eco-friendly Christmas.
Follow these simple steps to make your holiday festivities more sustainable and I can guarantee you’ll find yourself on Santa’s nice list this year.
Choose Eco Friendly Christmas Gifts
A little while ago, I shared my 2020 gift guide for sustainable Christmas gifts. If you want to check it out, just click here.
But here are some useful tips for choosing eco-friendly Christmas gifts:
1. Make your own
As well as being more environmentally friendly than mass-produced gifts that are transported from who knows where, handmade gifts are far more personal and unique. Plus, in the age of Pinterest, it’s easy to find DIY Christmas gift ideas to suit everyone.
2. Or get someone else to make it
If you’re a little more creatively challenged, you can still give a beautiful handmade gift – just get someone else to make it. Check out Facebook Marketplace for nearby creatives who have handmade goodies to sell or head over to Etsy for thousands of gorgeous gifts to choose from. Not only will you find a really special gift, but you’ll also be supporting a small business.
3. Shop local
Now more than ever we should be shopping small and shopping local. Instead of hunting the high street for Christmas gifts this year, check out smaller local businesses and see what they have on offer.
4. Choose ‘no stuff’ gifts
‘No stuff’ gifts are a fantastic alternative for eco-conscious loved ones or those who live more minimally. There are plenty of options out there ranging from endangered animal adoptions to spa day vouchers, charity donation gifts and even virtual concert tickets (because, you know – Covid). This is a great way to give an eco-friendly gift that people will really enjoy.
Use Sustainable Gift Wrapping
According to The Telegraph, consumers in the UK use 227,000 miles of wrapping paper each year. That’s the distance from the Earth to the Moon!
So it goes without saying that switching up your gift wrapping habits can have a huge impact on the planet. Here are some tips to make your Christmas packaging more eco-friendly:
1. Choose reusable packaging
A great eco-friendly gift wrapping solution is to wrap gifts in things that can then be used in their own right. Scarves, bandanas, draw-string bags and even cute tins and boxes are perfect for this!
2. Make your own wrapping paper
Lots of the Christmas wrapping paper you can find in shops isn’t recyclable. That’s because it contains glitter, foil or some kind of plastic film. A great eco-friendly (and budget-friendly) alternative is to buy plain brown packing paper that you can jazz up with stamps, paint or reusable bows.
3. Buy 100% recyclable wrapping paper
If arts and crafts isn’t your thing, look out for wrapping paper that’s 100% recyclable. There are lots of pretty designs to choose from on Etsy. Personally, I’m in love with this cute Christmas tree print eco-paper from WreathArtGifts.
Switch to Eco Friendly Christmas Crackers
We all love a good Christmas cracker. After all, Christmas isn’t Christmas if you’re not wearing a ridiculous paper crown. But Christmas crackers can be so wasteful! And what about those tacky plastic ‘gifts’ inside? Who uses a 2 inch comb?
This year, make a switch to sustainable Christmas crackers by opting for Sock Crackers instead. Creator of Sock Crackers, Tessa, was fed up with how wasteful traditional Christmas crackers were. She decided to making her own, filling them with socks instead of the usual plastic tat and people loved them!
Sock Crackers are make of recycled and recyclable paper and tied with string instead of elastic bands. And can we talk about how much better socks are as a cracker gift than a plastic spinning top that doesn’t even spin?
Prices start at £3.50 per cracker and you can choose between fun, festive or eco-socks.
Check out Sock Crackers here: Sock Crackers.
Use Plastic-Free Christmas Decorations
While we’re on the topic of boycotting plastic tat this Christmas, let’s talk about choosing eco-friendly Christmas decorations. Ditch the mass-produced plastic baubles this Christmas and opt for decorations made of wood, glass or even fabric instead.
Make your own
If you can knit, sew, crochet or even cut out a piece of felt in the shape of a star, you can make some cute and personal handmade decorations. They’ll be unique, more environmentally-friendly than a shop-bought version and you’ll always treasure them.
Choose handmade
Once again, if you’re not able to make you own decorations, find someone who can. From garlands to baubles, Christmas tree skirts to festive coasters, Etsy is the place to go for handmade Christmas decorations.
I have some handmade Christmas decorations for sale in my Etsy shop. You can check them out right here: Bootsies Handmade.
Skip the Christmas Cards
Before you send out Christmas cards to everyone at your office, all the neighbours and the butcher and his wife, stop and ask if it’s really necessary. If you send Christmas cards to far-flung loved ones to keep them up to date with what you’ve been up to recently then that’s lovely. But if you’re just sending them for the sake of sending them then is there any point?
If you feel that really really must send out Christmas cards, choose ones made of recycled paper and avoid any covered in glitter to boycott those micro-plastics..
Making Christmas more sustainable doesn’t need to be complicated. With just a few small changes you can make the festive period much more eco-friendly. Now it’s time for Christmas pjs and snuggling up to watch Elf with a mug of hot chocolate!