Eight Tips for a More Sustainable Christmas

Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year, but it can also be the most wasteful. For that reason, a lot of people are looking for ways to have a more sustainable Christmas. There are many ways you can make your Christmas more eco-friendly, without making it any less fun!

Below are 8 different ideas I use to create an environmentally sustainable Christmas!

1. Invest in a Reusable Advent Calendar

Stop buying gimmicky, one-use advent calendars that just end up in the trash! Investing in a high-quality reusable advent calendar can create a beautiful Christmas tradition to do with your family. Or better yet, make your own! You can check out Good House Keeping’s list of their favourite reusable advent calendars for inspiration.

In my family, the advent calendar was one of my favourite traditions growing up. My grandma hand quilted each of her grandchildren an advent calendar (pictured below). How mine works is in each house-shaped pocket, a miniature tree decoration is placed. Each day you take out the decoration and hang it on one of the buttons on the tree in the center. On December 1^st my mother would secretly place the decorations, so they were always a surprise. The pockets are also big enough that small candies can be put in as well for an extra surprise.

2. Choose Zero-Waste Gifts

Look for zero-waste or low waste gift options. Choose to shop from companies that use sustainable materials and practices. Look for companies that do things like offset their carbon emissions, are part of 1% for the planet, or that plant trees.

Choose gifts that don’t include any plastic or that help the receiver use less plastic, like bar soaps and cloth tote bags. Lush Cosmetics has many beautiful bath and beauty products in their Naked (zero waste) collection that make great gifts.  

If you are looking for some unique zero-waste swaps to use as stocking stuffers, check out LastObject. They sell reusable versions of cotton swabs and super cute reusable tissue packs! As a bonus, for every product they sell in November 2020, they will finance the removal of 2lbs of ocean plastic! Use my coupon code MYLIFETHRIVING at checkout for 10% off your order! 🙂

3. Gift Experiences

Gifts don’t have to be physical objects. If you really want to be sustainable this Christmas, give your loved ones an experience as a gift. Things like movie tickets or aquarium passes don’t require any physical waste. Outdoor experiences might be a bit hard this year with Covid-19, depending where you live, but there are lots of digital experiences that don’t require leaving the house. You could gift a subscription to services like Netflix or Audible. You could also gift a downloadable video game or digital movie download.

Looking for some fun indoor activites to do over the holidays? Check out my post Twenty Stay at Home Date Ideas!

4. Gift Something the Receiver Needs

Try to gift something that the receiver will actually use. This could be something practical or something fun, as long as it gets used. A big part of being eco friendly is not wasting resources. For practical, check out Ethique for sustainable hair and skin care. They have cute heart-shaped gift samplers of their products. For fun, take a look at Coalatree Organics for eco-conscious outdoor gear.

5. Use a Reusable Wrapping Option

There are many sustainable options for wrapping Christmas presents. One option is to reuse gift bags that have been given to you. Always make sure that when you use a gift bag, you don’t write the recipients name directly on the bag, that way it can be used again and again. Another option is to create your own reusable gift bags.

My family uses “gift sacks” that my grandma made from leftover fabrics. They are very simple draw-string bags, but they look very festive because of the holiday fabric prints she used. Once my grandma had given everyone gifts in these bags a few years in a row, every member of the family was able to essentially “swap” gift bags every time we exchanged gifts. Now no one in my family ever needs to buy wrapping paper!

My family also saves all the tissue paper from gifts to reuse for future years. We also save the tissue paper from any product we buy throughout the year (like the tissue they put around new shoes).

If you have a present that you really want to wrap and not throw into a bag, there are sustainable options for that too. Newspaper works great as wrapping paper; I like to use the comic section or the crossword page. You can also do a fabric wrap. If you really want to use new paper, you can look for a recyclable or compostable option. Just make sure to tell the receiver of the gift how to properly dispose of it! Check out Wrappily for eco-friendly wrapping paper.

6. Make Your Own Decorations

Making your own decorations by incorporating things you already have, is a great way to decorate sustainably. Holiday crafts are also a great way to bring the family together at Christmas. Decorating year after year will become even more fun as you get to relive the memories from Christmas’ past when you put them out. When you make your own decorations, you also get to choose what materials go into making them, so you can select sustainable materials. You can also incorporate natural materials like pinecones and chestnuts.

7. Bake Your Own Cookies/Desserts

Store bought holiday chocolates and cookies often come in various plastic wrappers and packaging. Try making your own Christmas cookies and treats instead! Homemade desserts always taste better too! Instead of bringing a box of chocolates when you visit a friend or relative, take a homemade batch of cookies instead. Bringing something homemade shows that you went out of your way to make a gift for the host and will feel more personable.

8. Replace Old Christmas Lights With LED Lights

If you are going to put up Christmas lights on your house, make sure you switch any incandescent lights to LEDs. LED lights use about 90% less energy than incandescent lights! LED lights also last a lot longer than incandescent lights. Making this switch will save energy and also save you money on your electric bill!

Conclusion

I hope these ideas will help you make your own Christmas more sustainable! You can use the ideas above to create new eco-friendly Christmas traditions that your whole family will enjoy. Please leave your stories of your own sustainable Christmas traditions below so we can continue to learn and grow together! 🙂