How to Spend an Eco-Friendly Christmas

Christmas is a beautiful holiday for the whole family, but it does bring me some anxiety in terms of additional unnecessary things we will have to deal with in the house and the footprint this holiday has on the environment. I gathered some thoughts and actions that I implement to make this holiday as cheerful and sustainable as possible.

Shopping:

• The basic rule of bringing your own bags when shopping also applies here!
• This year more than any other year, shop LOCAL! This will help our local businesses while reducing shipping’s carbon impact. Or look for online companies that offset their carbon footprint.
• Buy what is really needed and limit the children’s endless presents list to a couple items.
• Donate toys that your children no longer play with.
• When buying presents, try to buy eco-friendly items with little packaging and ask yourself this question: “How likely is this gift going to end up in the landfill within the next year?”
• Can you offer an experience instead of a physical product?
• Don’t send holiday cards this year but maybe a text or a more personalized email.

Gift wrapping:

• Use recyclable gift wrap if you really want to put nice wrapping around the presents. Many gift wraps are NOT recyclable.
• FORGET about glittery gift wrap, which contains microplastics.
• Don’t use labels or ribbons. Keep it simple.
• I find that the children don’t care about the wrapping, so be creative using paper shopping bags, magazine pages, torn tee-shirts, etc. to create your own gift wrapping.

Decor:

• This is a tough one. Because we live in a small space, we generally do not have room for a Christmas tree, which I don’t find sustainable anyway. So I invested in very pretty reusable holiday decor items and lighting that are filling the room with holiday cheer. Our fireplace becomes the center of attention and where Santa will drop off everybody’s presents.

Cooking:

• If you plan on hosting a large dinner and were going to use single-use items, look for sustainable ones.
• Make a plan to use your leftovers for other dishes.
• Buy organic, local and seasonal produce.