11 Steps To A More Sustainable Christmas

08 December 2022

But it’s also a time when many households see their waste increase by more than 25%, as we buy more food, more goods, and generally indulge a little bit more than we might do at other times of the year.

To help you make this time of year a merry yet more sustainable one, we’ve pulled together 11 simple but effective tips.

1 Christmas trees

Real trees really are greener than fake ones. If you do buy a tree, try to source locally and, even better, select one you can replant for the following year. Of course, if you already have a fake tree, don’t throw away just yet, and be sure to keep it for as long as you can.

2 Switch to LED lights

Because LED lights use about 75% less energy than conventional light bulbs, switching to LED lighting at Christmas could be a great way to save energy. Plus, while many of us are guilty of throwing away a whole string of fairy lights when a bulb or two goes out, replacing bulbs would be a much more sustainable approach. To reduce the wear and tear of your lights, try using a timer to cut down on carbon while saving money.

3 Charity: the spirit of giving

Christmas is all about the spirit of giving. So this year, rather than sending the usual Christmas cards that will end up in the recycling by Boxing Day, or buying a gift that you know will never get used, consider donating to a charity instead. Plus, if you or your loved ones receive any gifts that are unlikely to be loved, you could consider donating these to charities as well.

4 Minimise your online ordering

While quick and easy, the packaging and travel required to deliver your online shopping can have a big impact on our environment. To minimise this, try using fewer shops and order multiple items together where possible. For example, Amazon lets you request for orders to be sent together in one box rather than across multiple deliveries – it may just mean you have to wait a few more days for some of your items.

5 Shop local 

Just one of the many reasons why it’s great to support your local businesses is because they tend to make more local purchases themselves – meaning less transportation. So this Christmas, whether it is presents, food or the tree, why not shop locally where you can, to help reduce on the carbon miles of your shopping.

6 Reuse and recycle old wrapping paper and gift bags

With many shops now stocking recyclable wrapping paper, it’s never been easier to reuse and recycle this key Christmas component. And gift bags are even easier to reuse – you could even cut out the pictures from the cards you receive and use these as gift labels another time. Plus, where possible, be sure to minimise the amount of cellotape you use, as this can affect the recyclability of your paper. 

7 Regifting

Think about giving unwanted old presents as new presents to someone else. Just be careful not to regift your present to the person who originally gave it to you!

8 Food: buy what you’ll use and use what you buy

While for many, Christmas is a time to indulge and forget about the waistline till January, those looking to have a more sustainable Christmas should try not to over-buy food at this time. And, where you maybe do have a few bits leftover, be sure to incorporate this into new meals like a great turkey curry!

9 Homemade crackers

Store-bought ones are full of metallic paper (non-recyclable, and certainly not suitable for pet ingestion) and filled with single-use plastic. This year, why not try your hand at making your own crackers? You could reuse toilet loo rolls and left-over odds and ends of wrapping paper to make your own crackers. You can tie with string or ribbon that can be used year on year. OK, so perhaps no bang – but the gift could be anything from homemade biscuit to a lottery ticket, or local charity raffle. You could include a penguin chocolate – the wrapper already has a joke on it. 

10 Away from home

If you’re planning to go away this Christmas, be sure to unplug any unnecessary electricals you leave behind to try to offset any travel emissions if you can.

11 Give where you can: food bank donations

If you can, why not try making a donation of food over this Christmas by either buying something especially for the food banks or donating any excess food you may have left-over that you won’t be able to use.