Written by Grace Carpenter
The lead up to Christmas can get really busy with so many presents to buy, food to plan, and decorations to be bought.
While getting your Christmas to do list done, it’s important to consider your effect on the environment.
Here are four ways that you can easily be more sustainable over the Christmas period.
Reduce wrapping paper
Most wrapping paper is made out of materials that are really difficult to recycle due to the included non-paper materials such as glitter, plastics, as well as dyes and laminating.
Also, the sticky tape that remains attached to used wrapping paper cannot be recycled.
All of these plastic additives can make their way into waterways, which causes a major issue for aquatic animals.
Other wrapping alternatives such as plastic, can also be just as damaging. In order to be more sustainable, there are a few better options.
There is some wrapping paper that is 100% recycled. Often this means it is quite plain, but this becomes the perfect opportunity for you to draw on it and decorate it yourself.
Or, you can collect some newspaper in the lead up to Christmas and recycle it as wrapping paper. Other options include cloth gift sacks, gift bags, or boxes as these can be saved and reused many times.
Shop locally
When looking for Christmas presents, it is so much better for the environment if you shop locally. Shopping online often means that the products have to be transported from other parts of the country, or even overseas.
This is extremely bad for the environment due to the emissions caused from the transport required.
Online shopping can be extremely useful to find the perfect gift from the comfort of your own home, but instead of getting delivery, I recommend that you look online at stores close to you and use click and collect.
This means you can buy the product online and the store will hold it aside for you, so you can go in and pick it up quickly.
Use environmentally friendly decorations
Decorating for Christmas can be the most exciting part of the lead up, and there are many ways to be sustainable while still making your home beautiful.
Nowadays, most Christmas lights are LEDs which is a lot better for the environment, as they use a lot less energy.
So, if you’re buying new lights, make sure you get these. Once your lights are all set up, it’s a good idea to have them set on a timer, so they are not on all of the time.
For the Christmas tree, reusing your decorations is so important in being sustainable. If you think you will only use a decoration for one year, maybe consider buying something that will last a lot longer.
This can also go for decorating the dinner table, as single use plates, cutlery, and serviettes also just add to landfill, so opting for more reusable items is the best option.
Reduce food waste
Christmas day often comes with a lot and a lot of food, which can unfortunately bring about a lot of food waste.
Having more food than the amount of people is not necessarily a problem, as it is great to have lots of options, but after the meal is when we can work to reducing our waste.
Giving leftovers to everyone who came to the lunch or dinner to take back home with them to eat later is great as often one person will not be able to finish it all themselves.
If there is still way too much food, remember to make the most of your freezer as this can make leftovers last so much longer. For the food storage, also consider using reusable containers over single use plastics or cling wrap.
These few tips are really simple and easy to implement into your Christmas plan, and can make a major improvement in environmental impacts if everyone makes some small changes.
