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How to have a green Christmas
It's that time of year again as the nights get longer, the cold sets in, and Santa is busy wrapping presents. Yes it's Christmas, but how at this time of year do we ensure we minimise our carbon impact ? Well here's a few tips on how you can have a green Christmas...
Shop Locally:
There are many options available here, but it's great to give something back to where you live. By visiting your own local high street you are cutting down on travel and delivery impact, you are more likely to find something unique, and you will be supporting local businesses. Alternatively if you are shopping online why not consider fair trade or eco-friendly gifts, or you could even help sustainability by finding unique second-hand gifts online.
Wrapping Paper:
Wrapping paper is a particular problem at Christmas, with 227,000 miles of it discarded every year. Try and avoid paper which is shiny, metallic or includes glitter which typically cannot be recycled. Consider using brown plain wrap and decorating with ribbons, as these could both be reused by the recipient. If you can scrunch the paper up and it reopens it can be recycled.
Christmas Cards:
It's estimated that 1 billion cards are binned at the end of each season, but there are alternatives. Recyclable cards are readily available and can be found in stores and online. Plantable cards are also a brilliant environmentally friendly option, made from paper embedded with seeds, they ‘magically’ transform into plants when potted in soil.
Another simple alternative is to send Ecards or Digital cards, with many fantastic (and free) designs available online these are surely the most eco-friendly solution.
Decorations:
Many decorations cannot be recycled, and are also loaded with plastics. So instead why not get creative and make this a fun family activity, check out such sites as Pinterest and etsy for inspiration. These kind of art and crafts activities are a great way to get everyone involved, but avoid glitter if you can as it is notoriously bad for the environment given that it can take hundreds of years to biodegrade. Alternatively if you do need to buy new decorations then there are many eco-decorations that can be found, which help reduce this issue.
Christmas Dinner:
7 Million tonnes of food waste will be thrown away this festive period, this includes 2 million turkeys and 74 million mince pies. But the very easy way to limit the impact of your Christmas dinner is to simply be more careful about what and how much you buy. Additionally why not consider switching from a turkey dinner to a vegetarian dinner, as this would half the emissions impact of your meal.
Christmas Trees:
Real Christmas trees are more sustainable than their plastic counterparts, however at the end of the season 7 million trees will be dumped rather than recycled or replanted, but there are alternatives. Consider http://www.loveachristmastree.co.uk/ where you can rent or buy a tree which will be collected after Christmas and either replanted or properly recycled.
Christmas lights:
When it comes to lights LED ones are always best, as they are 80% more efficient than twinkling lights and for outdoor lights solar powered are a great eco-friendly option.
Shop Locally:
There are many options available here, but it's great to give something back to where you live. By visiting your own local high street you are cutting down on travel and delivery impact, you are more likely to find something unique, and you will be supporting local businesses. Alternatively if you are shopping online why not consider fair trade or eco-friendly gifts, or you could even help sustainability by finding unique second-hand gifts online.
Wrapping Paper:
Wrapping paper is a particular problem at Christmas, with 227,000 miles of it discarded every year. Try and avoid paper which is shiny, metallic or includes glitter which typically cannot be recycled. Consider using brown plain wrap and decorating with ribbons, as these could both be reused by the recipient. If you can scrunch the paper up and it reopens it can be recycled.
Christmas Cards:
It's estimated that 1 billion cards are binned at the end of each season, but there are alternatives. Recyclable cards are readily available and can be found in stores and online. Plantable cards are also a brilliant environmentally friendly option, made from paper embedded with seeds, they ‘magically’ transform into plants when potted in soil.
Another simple alternative is to send Ecards or Digital cards, with many fantastic (and free) designs available online these are surely the most eco-friendly solution.
Decorations:
Many decorations cannot be recycled, and are also loaded with plastics. So instead why not get creative and make this a fun family activity, check out such sites as Pinterest and etsy for inspiration. These kind of art and crafts activities are a great way to get everyone involved, but avoid glitter if you can as it is notoriously bad for the environment given that it can take hundreds of years to biodegrade. Alternatively if you do need to buy new decorations then there are many eco-decorations that can be found, which help reduce this issue.
Christmas Dinner:
7 Million tonnes of food waste will be thrown away this festive period, this includes 2 million turkeys and 74 million mince pies. But the very easy way to limit the impact of your Christmas dinner is to simply be more careful about what and how much you buy. Additionally why not consider switching from a turkey dinner to a vegetarian dinner, as this would half the emissions impact of your meal.
Christmas Trees:
Real Christmas trees are more sustainable than their plastic counterparts, however at the end of the season 7 million trees will be dumped rather than recycled or replanted, but there are alternatives. Consider http://www.loveachristmastree.co.uk/ where you can rent or buy a tree which will be collected after Christmas and either replanted or properly recycled.
Christmas lights:
When it comes to lights LED ones are always best, as they are 80% more efficient than twinkling lights and for outdoor lights solar powered are a great eco-friendly option.
Presents:
It's estimated that 60 million presents we give are unwanted. Sourcing eco-friendly and fair trade gifts helps with this issue, but another great alternative is re-gifting - after all one persons unwanted present could be another persons perfect gift. If you're feeling create you could even consider making your own gifts, the effort you've shown would mean a great deal more to your loved one.
Alternatively why not give a present that keeps on giving and join our non-profit tree-planting mission on behalf of a loved one. By joining us you're giving a gift that makes a positive impact and gives back to the environment. Visit our Why Trees page to find out more about why planting trees is so important, and see our Join Us page for more details on how you can help us.
Everyone from Become Carbon Negative wishes you all a safe and Happy Christmas and New Year.
It's estimated that 60 million presents we give are unwanted. Sourcing eco-friendly and fair trade gifts helps with this issue, but another great alternative is re-gifting - after all one persons unwanted present could be another persons perfect gift. If you're feeling create you could even consider making your own gifts, the effort you've shown would mean a great deal more to your loved one.
Alternatively why not give a present that keeps on giving and join our non-profit tree-planting mission on behalf of a loved one. By joining us you're giving a gift that makes a positive impact and gives back to the environment. Visit our Why Trees page to find out more about why planting trees is so important, and see our Join Us page for more details on how you can help us.
Everyone from Become Carbon Negative wishes you all a safe and Happy Christmas and New Year.
