Three ways to keep Christmas sustainable.

Christmas is a magical time. A time full of love, laughter, and sharing. It can also be a time filled with over consuming, over buying, and items that end up in the landfill come January. The magic of Christmas does not need to come at the price of the environment.

Here are three simple ways we can keep the environment in mind during these festive days:

-Reuse decorations from previous years. There seems to be this expectation that each year we need to change the colours of our Christmas tree decorations. Why the heck is that? I didn’t realize there was a need to keep our Christmas tree up on the trends! Christmas tree decorations as a whole aren’t very environmentally friendly. They’re often plastic or contain glitters that cannot be recycled. Plus, in my opinion, those home made, heartfelt hand me down ornaments just cannot be beat.

-Shop local, shop small, and shop secondhand. Or, make gifts yourself (although, I know that that can be a little challenging with the speed in which time and life is going by!) Instead of buying someone a gift just to buy them a gift, be mindful of what they need or love. Experiences and consumables make excellent gifts that do little harm to our environment. Plus, who wouldn’t love a plate of baked goods or a jar of hot chocolate these days. Want to go even deeper, gift them a meal, the ingredients for a delicious meal and take the dinner making thought out of it for them!

-Avoid non recyclable, non reusable items as much as possible. Love advent calendars? Try a diy one that can be used years and years over. The chocolate ones are fun sure, but they’re wrapped in plastic, the chocolates are being held in little plastic holders, and then the whole thing end up in the landfill come December 25. Think outside the box! There are so many amazing ways to have a sustainable advent calendar. Books, ornaments, felt wreathed, refillable boxes or jars.

Other Christmas products that are hard on our environment include things like tinsel, glittery/shiny wrapping paper, and one time use things. Can we all just agree that tinsel is the WORST! Not just for the environment, but it never goes away, still being found weeks after the tree is taken down!

Did you know most wrapping paper is not recyclable? If it contains things like glitters and shiny parts, wrapping paper ends up in the landfill. More coming on wrapping paper soon.

I’d love to know what your thoughts are. Do you agree with the list above? What would you add to it to help keep the environment in mind during the holiday season?