10 top tips for a greener Christmas celebration
Christmas is a time to celebrate with family, friends – it’s also a time when we indulge in abundant food, gifts and merriment. But all this jolly holly holiday fun also creates a hefty climate impact and millions of tonnes of waste each year.
As awareness about climate change grows, many people are aiming to cut waste and enjoy an eco-friendly celebration.
Below are 10 ways to cut emissions and waste at Christmas:
1. Ditch the Christmas jumper. They normally contain plastic and are often only worn once or twice.
If you really, really can’t imagine Christmas morning without one, re-use last year’s jumper or buy second-hand (hold a jumper swap with a bunch of friends a few nights before, and get even more wear out of more sweaters).
2. Driving home for Christmas? It could add a load onto your festive emissions. Taking the train or bus is a lower-impact way to travel than car or plane. If there’s no way to get home without an element of driving, consider car-pooling.
3. Get a real Christmas tree: a plastic tree has to be used for about 10 years to be greener than the real thing. You can further lower the tree’s environmental impact afterwards by arranging for it to be recycled as mulch or compost after Christmas.
There are even firms that offer tree rentals, taking the still-living plant back to a farm until next Christmas.
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4. Beware greenwashed consumerism: green products create a “warm glow” for users, according to a study by Canadian researchers, but consider whether green branding is being used to sell unnecessary items. Yes, your mulled wine cups are made from recycled PET plastic – but don’t you already have washable, reusable mugs?
5. Deck the halls: when it comes to trimming the tree, and the rest of your home, twinkling lights with LED bulbs are more energy efficient than regular fairy lights, while anti-waste groups suggest re-using decorations and swapping flimsy plastic home decor for compostable greenery.
6. Opt for a vegan meal: vegan food is a major trend and has a lighter climate impact. Switching from a turkey Christmas dinner to a nut roast with all the trimmings can reduce the meal’s emissions by more than half.
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7. Pull your own crackers: store-bought varieties are a major source of waste (plus filled with really crappy gifts that nobody ever keeps). For a greener alternative, make your own using old toilet roll tubes, and add home-made gifts. Who’s going to say no to a cube of home-made fudge?
8. Reduce unwanted gifts: give experiences instead of things, or switch to a family “secret Santa” system where people only buy gifts for one or two others – limiting the strain on the environment (and your wallet. Bonus).
9. Wrap it up: try to avoid gifts that come in excessive packaging and ditch glittery wrapping paper, cards and advent calendars as they cannot be recycled. Instead, wrap gifts in plain parcel paper, or newspaper or magazine pages. You can also buy a fun tea towel as wrapping.
10. Get talking: climate experts say mass awareness and lobbying is needed to bring change. Bringing up the issue over Christmas dinner might raise awareness – or at least provide a lively debate.
This article was curated by Young Post. Better Life is the ultimate resource for enhancing your personal and professional life.
