Oh, Christmas! That time of year where we buy stacks of wrapping paper, load up our tables with enough to feed a small village, and our bins get a huge workout. Now, by no means are we intending to go all Grinch on you, but with us being in 2021, and most of us now having the planet in the back of our minds now, we thought it’d be the perfect time to get in with some eco-conscious Christmas considerations.
1. Plan out your food
You’ve heard the saying. “Fail to plan, and you plan to fail.” Well, consider the same with all the big events you have coming up this December. By getting ahead of your food prep, understanding who’s coming over and how many people you’re catering for can easily cut down food waste drastically. According to our fancy pants research, food waste is the biggest culprit during Christmas.
So, we recommend (if you’re hosting) finalise a guest list, ask everyone for their food preferences and plan to perfection. No exceptions. The worst that can happen is you don’t have leftovers – gasp!
If you’re attending, consider what you can do to help out. Do you really need to buy and bring things if the host has asked you not to? Do you actually need to make that tuna bake we all know no one’s going to touch? Real talk: just show up. Your presence is present enough!
2. Delicious decorations
We’re obsessed with this one! Turn your decorations into snacks. How fun! (This also helps up with step one. See how clever we are.) If everyone’s done at the table and if a guest wants a snack, take your snack off the Christmas tree. We’re talking cookies, gingerbread houses... candy canes, people! You can also scatter stacks of cookies or create a mini-village on the table instead of decorations that’ll just get tossed out! Dried lemon and orange peel also work out amazing here.
The list is endless.
Turning your decorations into something you can eat is genius if you ask us. The worst-case scenario is everyone walks out as a first-time homeowner of a new gingerbread house. Delish.
3. Waste not, want knot!
If you want a true eco-alternative to wrapping paper, try our Furoshiki. A traditional method used in Japan, Furoshiki is the process of using cloth to transport goods. I’m sure we don’t need to tell you that second to food, the biggest waste made around the holidays is wrapping paper. So, imagine if you source your wrapping paper from fabric scraps and reuse this to create temporary, quirky art!
Another trick here is to buy hessian cloth or something similar and wrap all your gifts in that each year, and have the receiver open that in front of you, so you can reuse it next year.
Sure, all three of these ideas bypass traditional norms, might open up conversations and have you think differently, but we think this is a perfect place to show how you care about the planet. Give one or all three a try this Christmas, and let us know how it goes!
In the meantime, if you need to start your sustainable Christmas shopping, we’ve got you covered.
Sustainable, eco and ready for a disco
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