How to enjoy the festive season without causing damage to the environment; green tips for reducing waste at Christmas
Everyone enjoys a bit of over-indulgence at Christmas, but have you ever worried about the amount of waste your family creates during the festive period? Here are some tips for making your Christmas celebrations more sustainable by minimizing the amount of waste you throw away.
Over 20+ free printables
If you are looking for ways to get yourself more organised then come join our free Resource Vault. You can download them as many times s you like.
Come join our free Resource Vault here
(By joining giving us your email address you are consenting to us emailing you about our other travel, home and lifestyle ideas. You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link at the bottom of every email.)
Recycle your Christmas tree
Research suggests that a real Christmas tree is usually the most sustainable option, but in order to ensure minimal environmental impact, the tree must be disposed of responsibly at the end of the Christmas period. Most councils offer dedicated disposal points for Christmas trees in order to shred them and use them for composting and other environmentally friendly purposes.
If you have an artificial tree, try to reuse it for as many years as possible. If artificial trees are reused for more than ten years, they become more sustainable than real trees. Equally, try to reuse your tree decorations from year to year, and limit the number of new decorations you buy. Better still, use home-made decorations: if you have children, you can build up quite a collection of paper chains and hanging decorations from school craft activities.
Reuse your parcel packaging
With the ever-increasing contribution of internet sales to our Christmas shopping, many households end up with seemingly endless supplies of cardboard boxes, padded envelopes, and plastic mailbags. Unfortunately, plastic wrapping is not widely recycled by councils, but cardboard can be folded and put out with paper collections, or large boxes can be crafted into creative toys for children such as playhouses or cars.
Keep padded envelopes to reuse yourself. If you still prefer to do most of your Christmas shopping in person, take your own shopping bags with you, or use one bag in several stores for smaller items.
Keep Christmas cards for crafts
This year’s Christmas cards can be kept to make next year’s present labels. If you have children, they will love using the pictures for general craft activities throughout the year. Envelopes should be recycled, and for extra goodwill why not remove the stamps and donate them to a local charity. Used wrapping paper can also be recycled with normal paper, and wrap from larger presents is often good enough to keep for reuse next year.
Avoiding food waste
Many people buy far too much food for the festive period, so the best way to avoid food waste is to take a little time to calculate exactly how much you will need. Do not be tempted by multibuy offers at the supermarket, especially for perishable food. They may seem like a good deal at the time, but you are almost certain to end up discarding free or reduced food.
Related Posts:
- 13 Eco Friendly Gifts For Grown-Ups This Christmas
- 31 Amazing Gardening Gifts for Dad
- 20 Mothers Day Ideas for Women Who Love Fashion
Be creative with your leftovers. Create stir-frys and curries, or pop leftovers in a crusty roll for lunch. Bubble and squeak with leftover vegetables is always a favorite. Try not to buy too large a bird for Christmas day itself, or the whole family will be fed up with leftovers before they are all used up.
Laura x
If you have enjoyed this post and would like some more easy to follow recipes then look at our Food Section here. While you’re here why not pop over to Pinterest and follow my Slow Cooker Recipes Board or my Homemade Dinner Board that gives you loads of yummy and easy meals to make.
Love this post? Then why not save it to Pinterest so you can easily find it later.
What the * means
If a link has an * by it, then this means it is an affiliate link and helps S4SM stay free for all. If you use the link, it may mean that we receive a very small payment. It will not cost you anymore that it would normally.
You shouldn’t notice any difference and the link will never negatively impact the product. The items we write about are NEVER dictated by these links. We aim to look at all products on the market. If it isn’t possible to get an affiliate link, then the link, or product is still included in the same way, just with a non-paying link.