5 Tips For An Eco-Friendly Christmas
It’s that time of the year again! The decorations are starting to go up and Christmas music is playing on repeat. There’s nothing quite like it.
t’s important to remember what goes hand-in-hand with this festive season – pollution, in many different forms of waste. Although it’s easy to get swept up in the Christmas hype, there’s never a better time to start making sustainable choices that will help our planet in the long run. Let’s explore 5 ways to have an eco-friendly Christmas!
Overview:
5 tips to have a eco-friendly Christmas
1. Opt for eco-friendly Christmas wrapping paper
2. Get a biodegradable Christtmas tree
3. Choose long lasting Christmas gifts
5. Use eco-friendly Christmas decorations
1. Opt for eco-friendly christmas wrapping paper
This might come as a surprise to you, but that glossy wrapping paper you typically use at Christmas (or birthday) time isn’t actually recyclable. The majority of wrapping paper contains foils, glitter and plastic, and during production, they’re made with plenty of dyes and inks. This means wrapping paper can take decades to decompose.
This year, opt for environmentally friendly wrapping paper instead! Here’s a few great, eco-friendly Christmas gift wrapping ideas:
- Newspaper or brown paper.
- Fabric scarves (second hand shops are great for finding these).
- Reusable gift bags and boxes.
- Wrapping paper and tissue paper kept from last year.
2. Get a biodegradable Christmas tree
Plastic Christmas trees are big contributors to the plastic pollution that ends up in our oceans and landfills. While artificial trees can be reused, a lot of them are thrown away each year. If you’ve got your heart set on a plastic Christmas tree, opt for a second-hand one! But if you still want a brand new tree, then pick one that will last a lifetime, not one that you’ll replace every year.
Real trees, on the other hand, can be disposed of as green waste and are compostable. If they’re grown sustainably and properly, they’re the perfect way to celebrate Christmas and help the planet at the same time.
3. Choose long lasting Christmas gifts
To reduce plastic waste and encourage an eco-friendly Christmas, try investing in presents for your family and friends that will last for years! These should be sustainable gifts that can be used year after year.
We know Christmas can get expensive, so to save money, why not consider doing a Secret Santa with your family? That way, everyone gets an amazing gift that they’ll cherish forever and you won’t break the bank!
4. Plan Christmas dinner
Each year, a significant amount of food gets thrown into the general waste disposal – food that took hours of energy, time and precious resources to produce.
This Christmas, make a shopping list, check it twice and stick to it! While having too little food can strike fear in the host, forward planning is key. Make sure you carefully calculate how much your friends and family will eat and try not to go overboard when you hit the supermarkets.
If, however, you do have leftovers after Christmas, there are plenty of ways you can reuse all that food. Leftover ham or meat can be used in toasted sandwiches, salads, omelettes and more, while vegetables can be made into hearty soups or curries!
5. Use eco-friendly Christmas decorations
There are so many ways to decorate your home for an eco-friendlyeco friendly Christmas. Here are just a few.
Skip the plastic
Christmas decorations made out of recycled wood, glass and fabric are fantastic alternatives to plastic. Don’t be afraid to get creative either! You can make eco-friendly Christmas tree ornaments out of paper, old Christmas cards or cardboard, candle holders out of twigs, wreaths out of real plants and greenery and so much more.
Use LED Christmas lights
LED lights are a great way to reduce how much energy is used during the festive season. They not only last longer, but they use up to 75% less energy compared to regular lights. Saving your power bill and the environment.
Try a reusable advent calendar
Advent calendars are a big part of Christmas. They’re fun, delicious and great for all ages. The chocolates inside of them, however, are housed in pesky plastic.
Instead, invest in a wooden advent calendar that can be used year after year during the countdown to Christmas. The best bit? You can put whatever you want into each day! Whether that’s your favourite chocolate or lollies.
Planning an eco-friendly Christmas is a lot easier than you probably thought, right? At the end of the day, being eco-conscious doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice your favourite Christmas traditions. Instead, you’re making a few changes that are going to have a huge impact on your waste disposal – especially if we all do it collectively.
At Just Skips, we believe in disposing of your waste sustainably and properly. We have the skip bins Adelaide locals know and trust. We offer skip bin sizes as small as mini skip bins to 9m3 skip bins. We help dispose of all mixed waste types, order a skip bin now or get in contact for more information.
FAQs
What is a sustainable Christmas?
A sustainable Christmas is enjoying your christmas while still being conscious of waste management, minimising the impact on the environment and selecting eco-friendly & biodegradable options over single use items.
What do you get for an eco-friendly person for Christmas?
Things you can get an eco-friendly person for christmas:
- Tote bag
- Sustainable tea, coffee or hot chocolate
- Reusable, ceramic to-go cup
- Clothing made from recycled materials
- Baked goods
Are there sustainable Christmas trees?
The most sustainable Christmas tree is a potted Christmas tree or real Christmas tree because they are biodegradable and break down after a short time unlike a fake Christmas tree that can take 500+ years to decompose.
