For example, instead of ribbon, use a compostable twine or twine with a twig—a holly branch, a eucalyptus branch, or a pine branch—tucked into it. It’s a rustic look that lasts even if you pack things up well in advance. Alternatively, you can throw in something less sturdy, like flowers or berries, just before giving out gifts.
Don’t forget tape!
The last thing you want to do is make all of these adjustments and ruin it by using standard plastic tape that can’t be recycled. Sellotape now offers a Plastic-free version its famous adhesive tape, which is 100 percent plant-based and fully compostable. Alternatively, you can also consider paper-based options such as washi tape. These often come in pretty patterns too, which can also help spice up plainer brown paper.
Send fewer cards – or go digital
If you have a family that values Christmas cards, it can be hard to break the habit, but around 2.65 billion Christmas cards are sold in the United States each year, and if you sent one fewer card at a time, you’d save 50,000 cubic yards Save paper accordingly Stanford University.
It helps that there are now fantastic digital options that can be emailed to friends and family, eliminating waste entirely – and that can be sent at the last minute when it’s too late to send anything. Make the effort to talk to your loved ones in advance about whether you are all going the digital route to achieve greater environmental benefit.
If you can’t bear to spoil family tradition, choose your cards as carefully as you choose your wrapping paper. Avoid glitter and foil, and look for cards marked as recyclable. Even better, also look for those made from post-consumer recycled materials. You can even purchase cards that have seeds and cans embedded in them be planted!
Of course, you only have control over the cards you send. If you receive cards that are not recyclable, consider keeping them and cutting them up to reuse the holiday symbol pieces as gift tags for next year.
Choose a real Christmas tree if you have one
It may seem counterintuitive, but even though real trees are only used once before being thrown away, they generate less waste than their artificial counterparts. If disposed of correctly, a real tree can be completely recycled and used, for example, for firewood, wood chips or compost.
Artificial trees, on the other hand, are made from materials that cannot be recycled and only end up in landfills once their time of spreading Christmas cheer is over. The Carbon Trust It is estimated that you would need to reuse an artificial tree between seven and 20 times (depending on size) to offset the carbon footprint created by manufacturing, packaging and shipping. When purchasing a real tree (if you haven’t already), be sure to buy something that was grown locally. This is the more sustainable choice as it doesn’t have to travel as far.
Make decorations yourself
The same rules apply when decorating your tree and your home. Plastic and foil are taboo and creativity is the best way to avoid waste. For great DIY ideas, I send you to YouTube where there are tons of DIY Christmas decoration tutorials: Paper garlands, hanging paper dreidels, Salt dough ornamentsA DIY Kwanzaa Lanternand scores more. These decorations may not hold up in storage, but they are fully recyclable and compostable after the holidays are over, allowing you to consciously change your color theme each year.
Store-bought Christmas crackers—cardboard tubes that you pull on both ends to make them pop open—should be avoided. They traditionally use shiny and glittery materials, which is why, like cards and wrapping paper, they are not recyclable. And that’s before you think about the horrible, often plastic gift inside, which usually finds its way into the bin almost immediately.
