Lexie Boardman
Christmas – it’s almost here once again. The festive season has been met with increasing criticism as the climate crisis continues. With wasteful Christmas cracker surprises, the overwhelming waste of wrapping paper and gift bags, overconsumption and even tinsel coming under fire for their impact on the environment. Many of us are looking for ways to make our day-to-day lives more sustainable, so why should Christmas be exempt from that? Here are a few ways that we can take small steps towards a more sustainable Christmas.
Sustainable Wrapping Paper
An iconic part of a modern Christmas celebration is the gifts, and what is a gift without wrapping paper? While paper is recyclable, for wrapping paper this is not always the case. After miles of sticky tape, glitter coatings and a variety of different glosses, it moves further away from a recyclable product – and that’s without mentioning foil wrapping paper. Wrapping paper can only be recycled if it passes a ‘scrunch test’, so here are some more sustainable alternatives.
Reusable gift wrap and bags are a great alternative and add another depth to your gifts. Using a simple section of fabric (this could be from a local shop or up-cycled from some clothing or material you have laying around) and forming a knot – as in the Japanese tradition of ‘furoshiki’. It means that not only are you wrapping a present, but you are also gifting a bandana, a wall hanging, and it could even be used again as a gift to someone else – the opportunities are endless.
As with many sustainable moves these days they are good for the planet but can have a bit of an impact on your wallet. A cheaper alternative to the more harmful wrapping paper is to do some DIY. Using old paper shopping bags or even just being more mindful when buying wrapping paper by opting for recyclable or previously recycled paper is a great place to start.
Shop Local
Christmas shopping in the post-pandemic world has seen the public move even more towards shopping for all the Christmas essentials online. While this is incredibly convenient and comes almost naturally now to the majority, it comes at a cost to the environment. Shopping local means you are decreasing your carbon footprint and supporting the local community and its small businesses. It also means you are more likely to be gifting something unique – no more Christmas gift clashing!
Tinsel
A classic symbol of Christmas, tinsel, was first seen associated with the festive season in the early 1600s. While back then it was created with real silver, nowadays it uses non-recyclable plastic and film paper. If you already have some tinsel, then do keep hold of it – if you look after the stuff it can last for years. But instead of picking a fresh lot up this Christmas, consider going for plastic free alternatives. The opportunities are endless, and there are a lot of DIYs out there to save some extra money. Paper chains, paper tinsel, real plant garlands and wreaths and more are alternatives that will give an extra Christmas spice to your home without the wider cost to the environment. Whilst a plant won’t be a reusable option, the paper ones can be used for years to come and are even recyclable when a change is needed.
Christmas Crackers
Another staple in the Christmas ‘diet’ – a lot of us love a Christmas cracker filled with a party hat, cringeworthy joke and a flimsy throwaway toy. Thankfully, in 2021, some stores have made the option to move away from these cracker gifts, and instead are opting for paper games, origami and more. This makes the cracker entirely recyclable and overall decreases the impact on the environment a whole lot. Some of the stores doing this include Marks & Spencer, Lakeland and Ocado.
Mindful Gifting and Sustainable Consumption
Overconsumption is a major issue in the world today and plays a massive role in the battle against climate change. As a society, we are riddled by a need to have the latest thing – new technology, new clothing, the list is endless. Every gift you buy will leave a trace, and the more demand increases, as does the supply. Why not consider re-gifting or handing down a book you once loved as a gift to someone else. It’s not exactly necessary for us to gift people hundreds of brand-new presents when there are always other alternatives like these.
Christmas Dinner
Another big carbon emitter of the holiday season is food. Meat and dairy are major aspects of the food over the festive period and are some of the biggest culprits. I’m not necessarily asking you to ditch the Christmas turkey, but now is a better time than ever to look at animal-free alternatives to your Christmas eating habits. There are lots of options in stores, as well as opportunities to get cooking and baking at home. Try switching to a vegan Christmas pudding or a vegan mince pie, and you can even use dairy free products in the mashed potatoes for the Christmas dinner. These minor switches will decrease the overall carbon footprint of your household this Christmas.
These are just a few of the sustainable switches you could make – don’t get consumed by consumerism this Christmas. Even just making one small change is enough to make a massive difference in the push towards a more sustainable society and in saving our planet.
Featured image courtesy of Markus Spiske on Unsplash. Image license found here. No changes were made to the image.
Lexie Boardman
I am a 21-year-old journalism graduate studying MSc Media Psychology, passionate about music, sports (especially motorsport), sustainability and wellbeing.