Sustainable Christmas Taking an eco approach to the festivities
Christmas can be a rather wasteful time of year. Fortunately, you can use these tips to ensure your gifting, feasting and decorating is a little kinder on the environment
Simplify the season.
Buy fewer presents and less food, and opt to travel as little as possible. Slow down and make the most of the family moments instead.
Is your family doing secret Santa?
Suggest that everything gifted is either secondhand, homemade or eco-friendly in some way.
Reuse paper and ribbons
or use cloth bags for wrapping. If you are buying new, opt for recycled and recyclable paper, or use natural string or raffia.
Plywood trees and wreaths
are made from natural materials and can be reused year after year. Woodenspoons.co.nz makes trees and Love Bradbury offers cute wreaths that foraged blooms can be added to.
Consider whether the presents you’re buying,
or asking for, are ethically made. Trade Aid has a number of gift options, plus decorations, gift wrap and cards, or you can hunt out Fairtrade certified or other ethically produced presents.
Instead of cutting down a tree
or buying an artificial one, which will eventually end up in landfill, opt for a potted tree you can keep inside or plant out later. You could also consider decorating an outdoor tree.
If you buy a real tree, make sure you dispose of it properly
by recycling it into mulch, compost or firewood. Some Christmas-tree farms and transfer stations offer this service, or you can enlist a Christmas-tree removal company or garden-bag collection service.
Buying clothes as a gift?
Use the Good On You app to see what rating brands have earned for their labour policies, animal welfare and environmental impact, and adjust your shopping list accordingly.
Homemade gifts are the most meaningful
and often the most sustainable. Some home baking, knitting or a DIY voucher (promising babysitting or gardening services, a fun day out or a home spa treatment for example) will always be well received.
Don’t forget to take your eco bags
when you go shopping for presents, food and other supplies!
Choose gifts, decorations and groceries
with minimal packaging, or opt for those in recyclable or compostable packaging.
Rather than disposable gifts
pick ones that will last the distance.
For an eco and charitable alternative,
purchase gifts and decorations from op-shops.
Say no to palm oil,
or choose products made with sustainable palm oil. Check the ingredients in shop-bought mince pies, pastry and chocolates, as well as any skincare or body products you are gifting. A lot of these contain palm oil, the farming of which leads to deforestation and loss of habitat for animals such as orangutans and Sumatran tigers.
SOME HOME BAKING, KNITTING OR A DIY VOUCHER WILL ALWAYS BE WELL RECEIVED
Minimise your lighting.
You don’t need to deck the whole house out in Christmas lights. For those you do use, choose energy-efficient LED lights, replaceable bulbs and solar-powered bulbs for the outdoors.
Send digital Christmas cards
or make your own from recycled paper or last year’s cards – simply cut the front off and write on the back like a postcard.
Free-range and organic meat
will make for a more sustainable Christmas feast. Freedom Farms offers freerange turkeys, hams and more. You can also visit your local butcher or buy online from clarksorganicbutchery.co.nz.
Alternatively, go meatless
for Christmas lunch. If that’s too controversial, consider offering just one meat option.
Skip disposable plates
and cups, as well as straws and paper napkins. Ask everyone to bring their own plates or get them to pitch in with washing the dishes.
Purchase presents from charities,
or give a donation on someone’s behalf (many charities have gift catalogues to choose from, with items such as mosquito nets, schoolbooks and chickens). You could also donate any unwanted gifts to charity.
Go without plastic-filled Christmas crackers.
Make your own instead using paper-towel rolls and recycled paper, or buy a DIY cracker kit, so you can pop your own homemade gift inside.
If you are indulging in seafood
over the silly season, check out bestfishguide.org.nz to ensure you are eating sustainably caught fish or shellfish.
Give practical presents
to those starting out on their sustainability journey. An eco-friendly lunch box, reusable straws or food wrap, or even a bokashi bin are useful gifts that will help minimise waste throughout the year.
AN ECO-FRIENDLY LUNCH BOX, REUSABLE STRAWS OR FOOD WRAP, OR EVEN A BOKASHI BIN ARE USEFUL GIFTS THAT WILL HELP MINIMISE WASTE THROUGHOUT THE YEAR
Plan ahead
and only buy what you need for your Christmas meal so less food is wasted.
Search ‘leftovers’
on foodtolove. co.nz for inventive ways to use up spare food. Lovefoodhatewaste.co.nz also has lots of ideas. Compost any food that can’t be salvaged.
Grow your own flowers
and food to give as gifts, to feast on, and to decorate your Christmas table with.
Shop local and seasonal
to minimise your carbon footprint.
After a big day celebrating,
recycling will be the last thing on everyone’s minds. Make it easy by setting up bins at the start of the day so people know where to put any paper, bottles or packaging.
Reuse decorations,
make your own or purchase those made from natural or recycled materials.
Bring nature inside
in place of a pine tree, ensuring you choose branches or plants, such as toetoe, that will regenerate. •
GROW YOUR OWN FLOWERS AND
FOOD TO GIVE AS GIFTS, TO FEAST ON AND TO DECORATE YOUR CHRISTMAS TABLE WITH