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Christmas is one of the jolliest and most wasteful times of the year. Between traveling, gift giving and decorating for that one day of the year, we generate tons of carbon emissions and waste. But, that doesn’t mean that it has to be that way. The Holidays can be zero waste and having a sustainable Christmas can become a new fun tradition. Like most ways to reduce our carbon emissions, all it takes to minimize our environmental impact are a few simple changes to how we shop and consume.
Americans generate an estimated extra 25% more waste from Thanksgiving to New Year’s resulting in 25 million tons of garbage.
If you’re looking to be a little greener this Holiday season, try one or all of these tips to help you to make more conscious choices to reduce waste, reuse what you already have and recycle better.
Choose Green Gifts
When we say ‘green’ we literally mean green. During the Holiday season it’s easy to buy presents that are single-use or won’t be used at all and thrown out into landfills. As a gift a houseplant will last forever (if cared for properly) and add a little green to their lives. It doesn’t get much greener than this.
Give A Handmade Gift
Spend the extra time indoors learning a new craft and making a gift for your loved ones. There are easy-to-follow patterns available online that can help you knit a cozy pair of socks, beanie, or scarf for yourself or to give as gifts. Simply purchase, download and print them at home.
Once your pattern is chosen visit your local craft supply, fabric or yarn store to choose your yarn and other materials needed.
Switch To Reusable Wrapping ‘Paper’
The paper bags that you take home from grocery stores can be stored and used as recycled wrapping paper later in the year. If you haven’t saved paper bags, there are brands that offer recycled wrapping paper made from paper or other materials like leaves, grass, and wood pulp to make beautiful wrapping paper that is also biodegradable. Look for these instead of the traditional wrapping paper sold in stores.
Traditional wrapping paper is lined with a plastic membrane (making it smooth to the touch) or treated with chemical dyes. Both make it unrecyclable and a potential hazard for leeching chemicals when thrown into landfills.
To further minimize your use of plastic cut strips of cotton fabric to use as a bow. Small steps like these will ensure that the wrapping paper tossed at the end of the day are recycled and recyclable.
Try Fabric Wrapping
In Japan, cloth wrapping is a traditional way to cover gifts or other goods during travel. Known as furoshiki, it only requires a square piece of cloth. Sheets that you no longer use, a shirt that you no longer wear and other fabric scraps can all be used. Simply fold the fabric around the gift and tie it at the top in a bow or knot at the top. Of course it’s a little more technical than that, so you might want to watch the video to learn more about this beautiful gift wrapping technique.
It’s estimated that if each American family used recycled materials for just 3 presents that would save enough wrapping paper equivalent in size to 45,000 football fields.
Not only are the materials used recycled, they are also recyclable. Instead of being thrown into the trash, the fabric can be washed and reused for another giftee.
Go For Second-Hand Decorations
All of those old decorations have to go somewhere and some of them are being resold on second-hand marketplaces where you can find gorgeous glass baubles from the 1950s or other sustainable Christmas decorations that are pre-loved.
Rent A Christmas Tree
Real or faux Christmas trees can be rented through services that will deliver and pack up the trees from your home. For those who are slack on time ‘elf squads’ from companies like Rent-a-Christmas will set up and decorate the tree for you.
It’s estimated that Americans throw out 25- 30 million Christmas trees yearly.
Turn Your Houseplant Into A Christmas Tree
There isn’t a hard rule somewhere stating that your Christmas tree must be a 7ft tall fir tree. One option for a sustainable Christmas is to decorate a tree that you already have in your home as a Christmas tree. Do you have a potted leafy plant that could use a few beautiful decorations? Turning a potted plant into a Christmas tree will eliminate the need to create waste from a tree that was grown and cut down only to be used and discarded all within the span of several weeks.
A Christmas tree that is 6 ft tall can have a carbon footprint of 16kg CO2 once it ends up in a landfill where it will decompose and produce methane gas.
If you’re thinking about investing in a faux tree, know that they aren’t much better for the environment since most of them are PVC plastic that is nearly impossible to be recycled and decompose.
Send E-Cards
Like the paper bags that you use for your gift wrapping, you can also recycle the paper and cut and paint them into beautiful Christmas cards. Yet, if you’re not the type with extra time on your hands to dedicate to sustainable crafts, there are e-card services that you can use instead. E-cards are electronic cards that you can ‘decorate’ and ‘sign’ before sending them to the email address of your loved ones.
On average Americans buy 1 billion Christmas cards that is the equivalent of 200,000 trees being cut down yearly. It’s also estimated that only 33% of cards are recycled.
Buy Plantable Christmas Cards
If you’re one who is attached to the idea of sending cards for your loved ones to open and hold, then you might be interested in plantable cards as a zero-waste alternative that give back to the environment. Plantable cards are just that, cards that can be planted in dirt where the seeds will sprout into a tree.