Sustainable Christmas

In today’s Green stories we will talk about how to make Christmas more sustainable. On one hand, Christmas is the most popular holiday season, but on the other hand, it is also one of the most wasteful and busy time of the year, too. Luckily, there are plenty of possibilities how to make the holidays low-waste but joyful. We would like to share with you some of our eco-friendly tips for the upcoming season: 

Christmas tree

  • Buy a living tree from a sustainable forest (FSC-certified) 
  • If buying a plastic Christmas tree, make sure that you’re going to reuse it for at least 10 years 
  • Purchasing a potted tree is a good solution as you can reuse it each year if you replant it 
  • You can also use tree twigs from your garden to make a homemade christmas decoration 

 

Gifts

  • Prefer quality over quantity as it reduces chance that gifts will end-up in waste. 
  • Give an experience such as tickets to theatre, concert, or make a homemade coupon book or  give  a gift card to your favourite store. 
  • Opt for DIY gifts  (edible gifts such as homemade jam, cookies, tea, herbal liquers, lavender bags, jewellery, photo gifts, christmas ornaments, homemade cosmetics, candles etc.) 
  • Support local small businesses when buying gifts and food. 

 

Wrapping

  • Use wrapping paper made from recycled or FSC-certified paper. 
  • Choose reusable cloth fabric or reuse leftover paper from last year. 
  • You can also use interesting jars, paper boxes or baskets and decorate them with natural materials. 

Decorations

  • Switch to LED lights, they use less energy and last longer. Also, switch off the lights during the night or use a timer. 
  • You can prepare handmade DIY ornaments made of salt dough, dried citruses, fruit or walnuts. 
  • Reuse or upcycle decorations from previous years. 
  • Buy greeting cards made from recycled paper or upcycle the old cards you like. We, at the Fund have decided to commission a small NGO Hento Toto to prepare a Christmas card for us this year. Hento toto is a sheltered workshop for disabled people who love to draw and thanks to this project they are able to get a job in the field of graphic design.

 

Keep in mind that Christmas will be here also without tons of expensive gifts and dozens of Christmas cookies. Let’s enjoy a peaceful time with our families and friends as spending good time together is the most precious gift. 

Wishing you a wonderful holiday season a we‘ll be happy if you follow our Green stories also in the upcoming year.