We are counting down to Christmas with 12 ways you can make Christmas a little more sustainable, without breaking the bank, or spoiling the fun. We believe small changes can make a big difference, so we aren’t asking you to change your Christmas traditions dramatically or spend loads of extra money on twee products labeled “eco-friendly”. We are looking at practical options for making Christmas a little more sustainable.
Day 12: Experience based gifts
In short, we accumulate too much stuff over the holidays. Americans throw away 25% more trash between Thanksgiving and New Year than at any other time of year. It is estimated that $9.5 billion is spent on unwanted gifts each year at the holidays.
Contributing to the increase in waste will be unwanted gifts that aren’t returned or are returned but cannot be resold. Each little gift that ends up straight in landfill has a negative impact on our environment: the emissions generated to manufacture it in the first place (25% of global emissions come from industry), the plastics in the item itself or its packaging, and the waste piling up that we cannot recycle or reuse. And those negative impacts feel all the more frustrating when they are related to an unwanted item that was never used or needed.
One of the ways in which we can all strive to be a little more sustainable is by amassing less stuff. I definitely look around my life and think – where did all this stuff come from? I do not need all this stuff. I am in a very lucky position to have more than I need. I am sensitive to the fact that there are many around the globe for whom this isn’t the case, and certainly redistributing the things I have to those who need it is a top priority. But, I can also avoid adding to the pile of things I don’t need by buying less stuff.
That being said, I do want to show the people I love that I care about them during the holiday season. I am still going to buy Christmas presents for the people I love. But how can I do that while thinking actively about reducing the amount of stuff I buy?
Enter the experience based gift. My kids are still a bit too young to really appreciate this, but amongst the adults in the family, we’ve been investing in life experience gifts over stuff more and more. And, honestly speaking, I remember the experiences so much more dearly than any of the stuff.
To be clear, there are experience based gifts that will be responsible for more emissions than a manufactured item. There are manufactured items that will biodegrade over time rather than sitting in landfill. So, as with everything, this suggestion is not a panacea, nor a silver bullet. It is an option that can be applied, thoughtfully, in specific situations in which an experience gift can be a greener alternative to a manufactured item.
As an example, last year, the whole extended family went zip-lining together up in Yorkshire. It was an absolute blast. Every time I watch the video or think of that day out, I laugh. That memory is worth more to me than most of the store bought stuff I received as Christmas gifts. And, as it was an environmentally friendly experience, it is a good candidate for the sort of gift that could reduce our impact on our environment.
Spa gift certificates, restaurant gift certificates, or gift vouchers for a family day out are all fantastic alternatives to buying more stuff. There are lots of options around the globe that make it easy to give an experience instead of a thing. Red Letter Days and Virgin Experience Gifts, for example, give you options for booking all kinds of experiences – for all ages, and all definitions of fun.
Whether you are a thrill seeker, or seeking a relaxed quiet day, there will be an option for you (or your loved one). If you are buying for local friends and family, a gift certificate to a nearby museum or exhibition or an entry voucher for a nearby attraction can be a really unique way to show you care.
About 2 billion people will celebrate Christmas this year. If we each chose to replace a plastic gift with an experience instead, we could avoid up to 10 million tons of CO2 emissions – roughly the same as taking 1.5 million cars off the road for a year – and we could avoid sending a million tons of plastic waste to landfill.**
Day 11: Limit food waste
I am skating really close to controversial territory with this one – I accept that. I like eating myself into a food coma and spending Christmas afternoon on the sofa as much as the next person. I am certainly not suggesting that you have a vegan Christmas if you aren’t vegan – I promised this list wouldn’t spoil the festive fun.
And I’m not going to tell you to expect your guests to eat less, or to buy less food. I am a market leader in over-catering when people come over. I can’t help it – every time I am buying food, I make the same mistake. It goes something like this in my head: “Should I buy three of these party platters or just two? Two would probably be enough. But, what if it isn’t? What if everyone is really hungry and they all want party platter food? I should get three – just in case.” So I buy three; then at the end of the party, shake my head as I clear up and say to myself: “Two would have been enough.”
There are ways, however, that we can limit our food waste without going overboard or ruining Christmas dinner. I realize, based on the above example, that I am part of the problem.
Globally, 25-30% of food is wasted, contributing 8-10% of greenhouse gases, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. In the US, it is estimated that 40% of all food is wasted. In the UK, it is estimated that 4.5 million tonnes of food is thrown out at Christmas. In the US, not eating leftovers contributes 23% of edible food waste at home.
We may all destined to buy too much food when we host holiday dinners, if most people make shopping decisions like I do. There is nothing worse than having a Christmas dinner in which you run out of potatoes, or sprouts, or turkey. Has anyone ever actually run out of turkey, though? I cannot remember a single holiday in which we ever finished that bird.
In addition to telling myself to buy less, which I am working on, I will also focus my energy on what we can do with the leftover food. In that vein, I will look at multiple methods of reducing food waste across multiple types of extra food.
Category 1 – cooked edible food
You typically cannot donate food you have cooked at home to food banks or waste reduction networks, so we have to find creative ways to preserve or share.
I buy the little foil takeaway containers and freeze leftovers in small portions that can be warmed up later. Turkey actually freezes really well – you just have to cut it up into small pieces and freeze it in small batches so that you don’t have to defrost the whole thing in one go a week or two later when you can face eating turkey again.
My other post-holiday favorite for eating up leftovers is the turkey hot brown. My mom is from Kentucky, and if you have never tried this…you are missing out. The key thing here is that by transforming the main ingredient, turkey, we can make our leftovers more appealing. It doesn’t feel like you are eating Christmas dinner again when you have a turkey hot brown. It is the same idea behind a turkey curry or turkey tetrazzinni.
One of the biggest reasons for leftovers being thrown out in the UK is lack of fridge or freezer space, which can be an issue. If you can’t fit the leftovers in your freezer or fridge, it is difficult to preserve them. If this is a constraint you face, another option is to get those same takeaway containers, and send your guests home with food for later. Use their fridge space and tummies to make leftovers last longer and avoid throwing food out.
Category 2 – fresh food you bought but didn’t cook
If you are like me, you will find, a day or two after Christmas, a bag of unopened sprouts or an unopened container of brandy cream in the fridge. I often look at these things and think, I am never going to eat that.
Once we had an unopened Christmas pudding that sat in our cupboard for an entire year (it was still in date a year later, so we ate it the following Christmas….which tells you a lot about Christmas pudding in general). There is now a credible alternative to eating year old pudding or watching Christmas dinner items expire in your fridge.
There are networks of community fridges popping up all over the globe. Community fridges are places where anyone can either deposit fresh food they won’t be able to eat for anyone else to take and use. Hubbub here in the UK operate a network of fridges around the country where you can donate perishable food – the one near us is on a University campus, which I find to be brilliant. I suspect I would have taken the opportunity to reduce food waste by grabbing free food out of a community fridge when I was at University on a daily basis.
Freedge offers up a global map of community fridges so you can see if there is one close to you. There is even one in my home town of Athens, Georgia, another big University town full of hungry students.
These community fridges are great for reducing food waste. After Christmas, you can make more space in your fridge or freezer by donating any perishable food to a community fridge if there is one near you. Note: most fridges cannot accept food cooked at home, so you will need to keep your leftovers to yourself – this option is for uncooked perishables. But, by clearing out the uncooked perishables, you will free up fridge space for your own leftovers at home.
Category 3 – Long life items
We all get it wrong sometimes; forecasting food demand over the holidays is a tough business. But, for non-perishable items, there are so many options for distributing unwanted food. Local food banks are available nearly everywhere – and this year, more than most, there are lots of people in need.
Rising inflation means that lots of families are concerned about how they will put food on the table and gifts under the tree. That doesn’t end on Christmas Day. The post Christmas budget crunch can be even harder, as everyone feels like they have overspent and donations dry up. A post-Christmas cupboard clear out and a trip to the food bank to help families in the community is a great way to reduce food waste if you have any spare unopened food items in your cupboard.
The key takeaway of this tip is to give a second thought before throwing good food away. There are lots of options for redistributing or preserving food. With a little thoughtfulness, we can make a small dent in that big food waste number.
Day 10: Think Twice about New Tinsel
So, it turns out that many of the lovely tinsel strands or garlands we string along the banister and wind around or hang on the tree are made of non-recyclable materials – primarily Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) coated in a thin layer of metal foil. This is something that never would have occurred to me when I bought my first tinsel years ago. But, as Maya Angelou used to say, “when you know better, you do better.” A good friend reminded me of that saying recently, and I’ve taken it up as a mantra.
When it comes to existing tinsel, I take the same approach I take with other plastic decorations – if you already have it – keep using it. Don’t throw it out at the end of the holiday season. If the tinsel has already been manufactured and sold, the best thing you can do is use it for as long as it will last. If you no longer want it, donate it to a charity shop or sell it online, where it can bring joy to another family, to avoid it going to landfill, and reduce sales of newly manufactured tinsel.
If you are buying tinsel for the first time this year, or need to replace your worn out tinsel, there are more and more options each year that are made from fabric, raffia or paper. For example, Ecotinsel here in the UK offer plastic free garlands at reasonable prices. Earthhero provides pretty wool garlands in the USA.
Sadly, these petrochemical free versions are more expensive than the cheapest store bought alternatives. But, seeing as tinsel is really a discretionary item, perhaps it is the sort of thing you could choose to not buy or buy less of it – putting your budget towards a smaller garland, but one made out of a more sympathetic material, should you be so inclined.
Alternatively, there is always the option to make your own paper garlands to decorate the banister or the tree. Paper loop chains are retro chic. (The only way I survive the school holidays is by setting my kids to endless crafting tasks to keep them occupied for hours on end.) We opt for the simple green and red chains made of construction paper, but I just looked on Pintrest, and you should see some of the amazing stuff home crafters can do!
You may wonder what difference it makes if you buy or don’t buy newly manufactured tinsel or tinsel garlands. In reality, an individual purchase won’t make a huge difference – so don’t be too hard on yourself whatever you choose to do. But, if everyone reduced his or her demand by a tiny bit, it would have a large impact on the global demand for tinsel.
The Christmas decoration market is expected to grow by 3.54% annually between 2021 and 2030. It is up to us as consumers to determine where that growth comes from – and if forecasts are for tinsel sales to grow, that will mean more PVC production, and more tinsel manufacturing in the coming years – which, whether it sells or not, will mean more tinsel going to landfill.
But, if we vote with our purses, and send signals to the industry that the demand growth will come from decorations made with natural materials, investment and manufacturing will go in that direction. It is for that reason, that I treat every little decision about spending as a way to send a signal to the manufacturing powers-that-be. Every wool or paper garland is an opportunity.
Day 9: Charitable Donation as a Gift
If your kids are anything like mine, they can never have enough teddies. Stuffed animals practically need their own bedroom in our house, and yet it doesn’t ever stop my daughter from asking me to please please please buy this new one she just saw.
It is encouraging that she has that much love to give, I suppose. But, jeez – how many little furry things can we house?!?! One of the ways in which I appease my own guilt about the number of teddies in our house is by ensuring that one a year comes via an adopt-a-pet scheme.
It is estimated that one in a quarter of the earth’s mammal species are in danger of extinction. So many of the animals that my kids love cuddling up to in toy form are at risk that I sometimes think my children will never have the chance to see them in the wild. However, there are a number of charities around the globe working hard to improve these chances. The top five, as rated by Impactful Ninja are:
- David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation
- Born Free
- Defenders of Wildlife
- World Wildlife Fund (WWF)
- World Animal Protection
Each Christmas, the kids choose an animal to sponsor (we typically go with WWF). They get the benefit of a cuddly toy to start, but then throughout the year can grow their awareness of the issues facing these animals, and how we can help. The adoption packs come with regular updates – booklets with activities and educational facts that we can enjoy throughout the year. I was over the moon a few years ago when our neighbor also bought the kids adoption packs for Christmas – it was such a wonderful gift, and the kids were doubly excited to have two pets to look after that year, instead of just one.
If you are shopping for someone who has outgrown cuddly toys, or who doesn’t like animals, there are plenty of grown up equivalents that don’t come with a cuddly toy. UNICEF and Oxfam, for example, offer a range of charitable gifts – from vaccines to education packs.
I’m not suggesting you replace all your Christmas shopping with charity gift cards by any means – but they do make a great alternative to the little tit-for-tat gifts many of us buy simply because we don’t want to visit a friend empty handed at the holidays. They come in handy when you are at a loss as to what to buy for someone.
Day 8: Sustainable Stocking Stuffers
I’ve been trying to go plastic free with my stocking stuffers in recent years, and I think I am finally getting to a place where I can do a plastic-free stocking (or nearly plastic free, at least) for about the same cost as the alternative. And, yes, I do stick an orange in the bottom to take up all that space in the toe and to keep up the old traditions of oranges at Christmas. They usually end up back in the fruit bowl by Christmas afternoon.
There are lots of little bits and pieces that you can throw in to stuff a stocking that don’t need plastic to be fun. The suggestions here assume we are also leaving space in said stocking for a healthy amount of chocolates and sweets. There are of course the chocolate coins or bars wrapped in foil taking up a fair amount of space in our family stockings.
And, alongside those, I’ve gotten into the habit of buying treats in bulk – either through a zero waste store/delivery service, or simply at the pick ’n mix at the local supermarket. Once I have my bulk sweets or chocolate, I portion them out into little paper bags and staple each bag shut so they don’t spill all over the stocking.
In addition to sweet treats, I rely on other stocking staples such as pencils, coloring, and wooden and bamboo toys. For kids under 10 years, finger traps are great toys that are traditionally made from bamboo or paper. Wooden tops, bracelets, yo-yos, or stacking blocks are great alternatives to plastic toys. Scratch art, activity books with coloring pencils or crayons, and tiny books make great stocking stuffers.
For the musically inclined, a harmonica (preferably made from metal and wood), or a pan flute is always a nice touch for a stocking. I’m just kidding about the pan flute – it wouldn’t realistically fit in a stocking. Harmonicas do work nicely, though.
There are a number of games you can find that are made out of wood or card for those a little older. Matchbox games – little trivia games that come in sets the size of matchboxes, for example, are inexpensive and typically made from cardboard and paper. Mini jenga, wooden dominoes, and wooden pick-up-sticks are other options that are found just as easily in wooden versions as plastic.
For non-kid loved ones, date night dice, whiskey stones, soap bars packaged in paper, and bath salts are all good options that don’t cost the earth (heh heh – see what I did there?). Whoever you are shopping for, one easy way to make Christmas a little more sustainable is to just search that little bit more to see if you can find a plastic-free version of the stocking stuffers your loved ones adore. But, if all else fails, just put more oranges in.
Day 7: Second Hand Market
Ok, I have to admit, I love a Christmassy picture with the whole family in hilariously hideous Christmas sweaters or matching pajamas as much as anyone. I have come to realize, though, that my desire to spread festive cheer through embarrassing my family members has a hidden cost. We only wear these festive items a once a year. And, especially where the kids are involved, they aren’t even things that can get lots of wear over several Christmases.
As budgets crunch, and my understanding of fast fashion grows, I’m starting to re-think my festive attire habit. According to earth.org, 92 million tons of textiles end up in landfill each year. Global emissions in the fashion industry account for 10% of global carbon emissions, and that is expected to increase by 50% by 2030. The number of times a garment is worn has declined by nearly 36% in the last 15 years. 10% of microplastics dispersed in the ocean come from textiles. So, there is good reason to reduce my own personal demand for new clothes.
All is not lost, however! I have found a way to continue the joy with less impact. These days, I scour my local charity shops and resale/reuse focused apps for my Christmas attire gems: a sparkly top, festive pajamas, or a Christmas sweater for the kids. It turns out “new to me” is just as good as “new”.
It has the added benefit of also being much cheaper. And it gives you the ability to tap into vintage gems that are truly spectacular, reducing the likelihood you’ll turn up to a party wearing the same thing as your mate. My top tip for finding the best gems in a local charity shop is to head to the most high income area that is convenient to you and shop in the local charity or vintage stores in that area – they tend to have the best stuff, as the people local to them are more likely to donate high end items.
Another highly convenient option is a reuse or resale focused app – like Vinted, or Olio, Facebook marketplace or eBay. I just searched for used Christmas sweater (“jumper” actually, as I’m in the UK) on eBay, and found over 56,000 listings. The kids’ Christmas sweaters I found on Vinted had an average price tag between £1 & £5. Like I said, win-win.
I’m not going to pretend I’m always able to source via the second hand market – when I find that perfect Christmas party dress or adorable slippers for the kids in a first hand shop, yes, I still buy new. I’m no saint, but I figure if I can just reduce, ever so slightly, the number of times I buy new as compared to second hand, I can reduce my contribution to waste that little bit. Every impact, however small, makes a difference.
Day 6: Secret Santa Gift Exchange
According to recent Christmas spending figures, each person in the UK is expected to spend between £430-575 on Christmas gifts in 2022. The average American is projected to spend $648. Canadians will spend slightly more ($776) on gifts, and nearly four times as much on food per capita, as compared to their Southern neighbors, according to World Remit.
France tops spending among European countries, with $856 expected spend on gifts per person. Spending in Spain is much lower, with budgets closer to $195 per person for gifts. Australia and Mexico fall in between France and the UK, spending $478 and $493 respectively.
As budgets are under more pressure this year, there is some debate as to whether or by how much spending on Christmas gifts will decline in 2022. Well, here is an area in which striving for sustainability can coincide with striving to be frugal. By reducing the amount of gifts we buy, we can reduce the amount of unwanted gifts that end up in landfill after Christmas. We will also reduce our demand for manufactured items, thereby reducing our carbon footprint.
I often wish that myself and my kids received fewer gifts at Christmas. I spend the few days after Christmas wondering where all of this stuff we don’t need is going to go! It turns out quite a lot of us are feeling that way, but most folks don’t want to upset the apple cart or offend anyone, so we keep spending and keep gifting….even though quite often the gifter is worried about Christmas spending and the giftee doesn’t really want the gift anyway.
According to a recent survey, over 37 million Brits receive an unwanted gift at Christmas, totaling over £1.2bn a year. Millennials report the highest rates of receiving unwanted gifts, at 71%. The New York Post reported back in 2017 that $16bn worth of unwanted gifts are thrown out in the US every year, and more recent data suggests that over half of Americans receive an unwanted gift every year. That’s a lot of gifts and budget going to waste!
Well, you don’t have to be a Scrooge to spend less and get less. A Secret Santa gift exchange is the perfect way to save money, do your part to reduce consumption and waste, and still show you care for your loved ones.
Here is how it works: organize a group of friends, family, neighbors, or colleagues that know each other and agree in advance to participate. If you can get together in person, it is great fun to write each participant’s name on the list and draw names out of a hat. The person picking the name agrees to buy a gift for the person whose name is selected (and only that person). If you select your own name, you throw it back in and select again.
We have replaced family gift buying with Secret Santa for the last several years, now, and it is so much easier. Instead of buying 10+ gifts for my nieces, nephews, siblings and in-laws, I buy one slightly nicer gift for one person whose name is drawn out of the hat. It takes less time. It takes less money. It prevents me trying to fit 10+ gifts in my suitcase to take home after the holidays. It is a winner of a tradition all around.
Day 5: Invest in LED Fairy Lights
The typical fairy or string lights that are used for Christmas decoration have traditionally been incandescent bulbs for the majority of my lifetime. Incandescent lights require a filament that emits light and heat when electricity passes through it, making that lovely glow we all grew up with. But, these days, there is a better alternative. Light emitting diodes, or LEDs, work differently from incandescent bulbs. They emit light when electricity passes through a semiconductor. LEDs were first manufactured in the 1960s, but it wasn’t until the late 90s/early 2000s, that LEDs were used for Christmas lights.
Traditionally, LED lights were more expensive than incandescent lights to purchase, but these days there is little difference in the up front cost of buying one strand or another. However, as electricity prices rise, it is worth bearing in mind that incandescent bulbs require quite a lot more electricity to run than LED lights, and LEDs last much much longer.
LED bulbs can provide up to 75% energy savings as compared to incandescent bulbs. Traditional incandescent bulbs have an average life span of 1,000 hours. LED bulbs have an average life span of 50,000 hours. As well, for fairy lights on a strand, you don’t have to replace the whole strand when the light burns out. A single bulb wearing out won’t leave you with a completely dark strand. The other bulbs will remain lit while you procrastinate changing the bulb that has gone out.
Because you can replace LEDs light by light, you end up with a much longer overall useful life. So, while incandescent lights may be slightly cheaper to purchase, they are more expensive in the long run. It is therefore worth paying attention to the type of fairy light you are purchasing and opt for LED if possible.
I am not suggesting that you go out and buy LED lights if you already have all the lights you need for this holiday season. The most sustainable thing you can do in the short term is not to buy new lights, as the carbon footprint associated with the manufacturing and delivery of new lights will likely outweigh the electricity savings in the first year. And, the cost investment of purchasing new LED lights will outweigh the cost savings of electricity for this season (depending, of course, on how long you leave your lights on).
But, if it is time for you to replace your lights – because you can’t find last year’s strand of lights in your disaster of a loft or attic storage space, you can’t face untangling the strand you did find, or because last year’s have burnt out, then it is worth paying a bit more for LED lights. You will make your money back both in savings on your electricity bills, and in the lifespan of your lights.
Day 4: The Front Door Wreath
At my house, the front door wreath is the way I tell the world every year that I have no artistic ability whatsoever. I mean, how hard is it to make a pretty wreath? Well, if you struggle to tie a straight bow like I do, it is pretty hard. I accept I will never be on Kirstie’s Handmade Christmas (as much as I would love to be), but there are solutions, even for people like me.
Despite my failings, I do try to keep my wreath natural, and I find that buying a real wreath from the florist can be really expensive. So, I have found a way to make a really simple wreath out of stuff around the house for a lower cost than a store bought one.
It starts with a simple wreath frame. You can buy them in craft stores or garden centers for as little as £2 or make one out of an old coat hanger (that level of do-it-yourself is too sophisticated for me, so I bought one). From there, you can craft a wreath base out of the bits of your Christmas tree you had to cut off to make it fit in your space. Or, if you didn’t have to cut off any branches when setting your tree up, you might find you can shave a bit off the back, and no one will notice.
We recently had our Yew hedge trimmed, and those off-cuts will blend nicely in with the tree branches to make a natural wreath base at no additional cost. If you don’t have extra evergreen foliage laying around the house, a walk in the woods and a bit of foraging is also an option. Or, if all else fails, take some secateurs ‘round to Christmas drinks at the neighbors’ and help yourself to their tree branches when they aren’t looking. Just kidding, for legal reasons I cannot condone stealing tree branches from friends or family.
Once you have your wreath base ready, use natural twine or metal wire to secure it in place – either can be sourced from a crafting store or a garden center at low cost. From there, you can add natural decorations – from holly berries to pine cones and natural ribbon recycled from previous gifts. This is where my skills typically fall short, and my wreath reality starts to deviate from the wreath I already built in my head. In these scenarios, I tend to blame small children for my shortcomings: “Ah, yes, isn’t our wreath quaint? The kids decorated it.”
The key thing I aim for is to go natural over plastic. No judgements if you have a plastic wreath – I am guilty of splurging on plastic decorations, too….you are in a shop, giddy from the Mariah ringing in your ears, and the decorations look so pretty…so already finished….so easy and cheap. It doesn’t even occur to you that the beautiful store bought wreath is un-recyclable plastic until you’ve brought it home and hung it up.
It happens, so don’t beat yourself up about it. This tip is to just prompt consideration regarding what different wreaths are made of before deciding on one. For those with time and motivation, a wreath can be made at home from natural evergreen branches. If you are willing to spend more, but short on time, beautiful natural wreaths are available from florists. If you want a wreath you can use again and again, but not keen on plastic, there are wooden wreaths available in most home stores for similar cost to plastic ones.
Day 3: Plastic Free Christmas Crackers
I’m no Scrooge, but the minute the Christmas decorations show up in store, I groan inside. This year my first thought was, “Seriously? It is early November. That means I have two months of saying ‘no’ to my children every time they ask for this/that/the other Christmas related item on the shelf to look forward to. ARGHHHH!”
So, imagine my surprise (and my daughter’s) when, in response to a “Mum, can I have?” question, I said, “Yes! We can buy those Christmas crackers, even though Halloween was last week.” You may assume that I just lost my will to live, as I can only be asked the same question 3 times before surrendering (just like Will Farrell’s character in Austin Powers). But, you would be wrong!
The Christmas crackers in question were made of plain white paper that the purchaser can color in or paint into a lovely pattern. They are also plastic free and made of fully recyclable card and paper – inside and out. They cost £4 for a pack of 6 crackers.
Here, I saw the opportunity for a triple-win. Win #1: hours of coloring distraction for my young daughter. Win #2: no plastic toys or wrapping – these are more eco-friendly Christmas crackers. Win #3: I was already planning to buy Christmas crackers, just not the week after Halloween, so this is the kind of kid request that it makes sense to say yes to. And, in a rare Christmas miracle, the more sustainable option was not wildly* more expensive than the traditional alternative.
It is now very easy to buy fully recyclable and/or plastic free Christmas crackers at a reasonable price. So, all it takes to make your Christmas a little more sustainable is the time it takes to read the label (assuming you haven’t already bought yours!).
Day 2: The Christmas Tree Conundrum
It used to be so simple, but these days there is a Christmas Tree Conundrum! I want a Christmas tree for my house, but I am getting the sneaking feeling that chopping one down every year is not the most sustainable option. I mean we want to plant trees, right, not chop them down?! So, what can I do? Get a natural tree and feel guilty about tree death? Get an artificial tree instead?
Well, strictly speaking, the most sustainable option for Christmas trees is a rental scheme: you pick up a local tree (or have it delivered), in a pot, and return it after Christmas (or have it picked up). In this scenario, your tree is never cut down, or harvested. You get the benefit of carbon absorption throughout the year over an ever growing crop of trees – rather than a rotation of cutting down some trees as others mature. The carbon benefit associated with renting a tree is based on the marginal difference between the amount of carbon absorbed by mature trees versus the amount of carbon absorbed by the youngest trees being replanted.
Let’s take an example. Your average Christmas tree was planted between 10 and 12 years ago. It will absorb 25kg of carbon dioxide in a year on average (with a range of between 10-40kg). An older tree will typically absorb more carbon than a younger tree because it is bigger. So, when you cut down millions of mature trees and replant millions of seedlings, you are reducing the amount of carbon being absorbed. For the first few years, comparing mature trees to seedlings, you are getting less carbon absorption than you would have if you left the mature trees in pots instead of harvesting them. However, Christmas tree farmers have been planting for years, so for every crop cut down, there is a slightly younger crop waiting to take its place next year.
The natural Christmas tree market is growing at 5% a year. Even without the tree rental market, Christmas tree producers are planting significantly more trees each year than are harvested, as they intend to sell (or rent) more trees next year than this year. Projections are for the market to continue to grow, and outpace the artificial tree market until at least 2028.
So, overall, the good news is that Christmas tree markets are strong and healthy, which promotes tree planting. The rental market will give a boost to tree growth and carbon dioxide sequestration in the short term, and that is fantastic. But, it is useful to know that renting a tree can be more expensive than buying a tree – particularly if you get it delivered and picked up. Tree rental schemes are not available in most areas yet, and they tend to sell out quickly. The only option I could find in London, for example, sold out in November. All that is to say, renting a tree is great, if you can, but most won’t be able to access that option.
So, if that option isn’t my top choice or isn’t available to me, what next? Artificial or real tree? The consensus is that real trees are more sustainable, particularly in the short-term. Artificial trees have a higher carbon footprint and create additional plastic waste (eventually). And, fundamentally, trees are renewable resources, so if they are farmed responsibly, real trees are sustainable. As long as you plant more than you harvest every year, the tree crop is a sustainable resource.
If you go for a real tree, and accept that your tree is going to die in the process (as in, it is cut down – not potted), there are some ways you can ensure your tree is as sustainable as possible. Looking for Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification can help ensure you have a sustainably farmed tree, rather than an irresponsibly produced one. You can also buy a locally grown tree, if possible, to reduce the carbon footprint associated with the tree transport.
Back home we usually chop a tree down from our own farm, which is about as local as you can get, but here in the London area, I don’t have that option, sadly. My garden is smaller than most American kitchens. However, we do have a tree farm a short drive away where we can cut down a tree ourselves. Seeing the forest in which our tree is grown, and the preparation for next year’s harvest that is already close to maturity, enables me to get comfortable with the production and farming methods employed.
If you do opt for a real tree, take the time to recycle it after Christmas is over. There are a number of charities and recycling schemes that come and pick up trees or offer drop off points. Most recycled trees are used for compost or garden mulch. You can also chop up your tree and use it for firewood. It is important to let the wood dry out first, though, and only use it in outdoor fire pits or chimineas, rather than in a fireplace. Firs, pines, and spruces release a lot of creosote when burned. This can build up in chimneys, increasing your risk of a chimney fire if burned indoors.
Wood chips make great mulch for your garden or someone else’s (if you recycle it) if you have access to a wood chipper (I mean, who doesn’t?). Evergreen branches also make a great base for a home compost pile if you have the space. Finally, if you are a keen do-it-yourself-er, you can chop your tree into small discs and use them in edging and for garden decoration.
Real trees can be really expensive, though, so I totally understand if you have chosen an artificial tree. They are money saving in the long run. And, if you use your artificial tree for more than 10 years, the carbon savings associated with not purchasing a real tree every year start to come in line with the carbon cost of manufacturing and delivery of a petrochemical (plastic) artificial tree. That being said, artificial trees cannot be a sustainable option, by definition, until they are made from renewable resource based plastics. So long as the plastics are petrochemical based, they rely on fossil fuels for their manufacture. It’s not worth feeling guilty about having an artificial tree, though – we all use plenty of plastic in daily life. Where you can or do compromise and try to reduce plastic use is up to you!
So, if you already have an artificial tree, keep using it. Don’t let the judgers and haters shame you into sending your artificial tree to landfill. If you haven’t bought an artificial tree yet, but are considering it, see if you can get one second-hand, through a charity shop, or on eBay. It will be kinder on your wallet, and ensure maximum use of the tree before it goes to landfill. When you are finished with your artificial tree, consider donating it to a charity shop or selling it on, as they cannot currently be recycled.
Day 1: The Advent Calendar
When I was a kid, our family advent calendar was a cardboard house, and every day you opened a little picture window to reveal a new Christmassy image telling you what day it was. There were no toys. There were no chocolates. The pictures were the same every year. But, we were still excited to open those little windows every day leading up to Christmas. Unfortunately, over my lifetime, the commercial agents at work have made advent calendars (and a whole lot of other things) revenue generating machines. So, now my kids would feel completely deprived if they didn’t get a little treat or a sweet every morning of December.
I originally pursued the reusable advent calendar, not entirely out of sustainability motivations, but out of the desire to avoid chocolate at 7 am for my toddler. For those without much experience of toddlers, chocolate is the equivalent of tequila shots for anyone under the age of three. So, I went looking for an alternative to chocolate advent calendars.
I bought a wooden advent calendar with little cubbies that you can fill with toys or gifts. The challenge I found is that the cubbies are really small! It’s hard to find little toys or things that fit in there, but I have, over time, learned a few tricks to make it work.
Some small items that will fit include little wooden gift tags which you can buy in packs of 10 or up to 100. I like the ones that come with an etched design, but are unpainted, so the kids can color one in each day. Miniature tree decorations and bouncy balls are also great options. Every now and again I throw in a little sweet or a chocolate, just to keep them guessing. I run it like a school dinner menu rotation – one day a gift tag, next day an ornament, then a bouncy ball, etc.
It finally dawned on me, though, that the best way to rid yourself of the limitation of the tiny cubby is to make a treasure hunt. If you have little gifts or crafts or treats that won’t fit in your advent calendar, put a clue on a piece of paper and put it in the cubby. Then hide whatever the surprise is around the house. Why it took me three years to figure this out is anyone’s guess.
I realize it’s a tough year to ask people to make the additional investment of a reusable advent calendar, as they are typically more expensive than the chocolate ones. There are alternatives to purchasing an expensive reusable advent calendar, though. I am not artistic, and very short on time, so I typically spend a little more for someone to do the crafting for me.
If you are budget conscious, and more artistic than I (here’s a hint: you probably are!), you can quite easily make a reusable advent calendar. There are worlds of ideas on Etsy and Pinterest showing how to make advent calendars from card, envelopes, old socks, or plain old paper, dressed up with some lovely coloring.
Resources:
Carbon facts about Christmas trees
Americans throw away $16B worth of Christmas gifts