SUSTAINABLE HOLIDAY: MAKING CHRISTMAS ‘GREEN’

It’s the festive season and Christmas is around corner, have you thought of ways to make this time memorable while at the same time eco-friendly? There are countless ways; I’ll give you some few tips on how to make the most of this time in a sustainable way. Stay put and enjoy!

• Gifts
  • Experience over materials: How about gifting your loved ones with a service or experience? Maybe a ticket to a concert, voucher to a salon, game park ticket, a fun day out etcetera.
  • Sustainable gifts: This can be a great way to introduce your family and friends to live a sustainable life.
  • Give charity: you can give charity on their behalf. This can be to an orphanage, local environment organizations or other individuals so that they can enjoy Christmas as well.
  • Your skills: In this tough time, you can as well as celebrate the holiday by preparing your family’s favorite meal. Put your skills to test by learning new recipes, you can also prepare a song or dance choreography to entertain family members. Remember to stay safe!
  • Seeds or tree seedling: This is a thoughtful and beautiful gift, can be planted or re-gifted to increase forest cover or greening the city.

• Tree
  • Reuse: Make good use of what you already have. If you have a faux tree from the previous year, the best thing to do is to reuse it.
  • Real tree: You can as well opt for a real potted plant. Purchase one from your local vendors and once the holiday is over, you can plant it in your garden.
  • Rent a tree: This is quite good for those who want to have a tree but circumstances can’t allow. The rented tree is a good option as it can later be planted in a forest or bought by someone willing to plant it.

• Wrappings
  • Furoshiki: A type of Japanese wrapping cloth is very good in gift wrapping as the cloth can be reused.
  • Repurpose: Old fabrics and clothes that you no longer wear can be cut into beautiful shapes and used to wrap gifts!
  • Old newspapers around the house can be also used to wrap gifts, as the conventional wrapping papers are not recyclable.
  • Recycled paper: You can also used recycled paper to wrap gifts if the other options is not for you.
  • Eco-friendly wrapping paper can be used as well. Most can be composted at home once you’re done with them.

• Food waste
  • Plan: It is essential to plan everything including guest numbers and food made so as to avoid food wastage. We might get over-whelmed and cook excess meal hence; planning will make you avoid this.
  • Re-use leftovers: In some instances, even after careful planning, some food might have ended up not being consumed. This is when one is required to get creative and reuse the leftovers to make a new meal.
• Decorations
  • DIY: Making your own decorations, from what you already have around the house should be the first step. This will save you a lot as you will realize that indeed you have enough and you will also end up exploring your craft skills. A good example is dough decorations.
  • Eco-friendly decorations: If you are not that crafty and you really love decorations, you can check out local shops around you that sell plant-based, eco-friendly decorations like wreaths.
  • Lights: You should consider LED lighting for your trees as they are energy saving and that also translates to reduced electricity bills.

There are many ways in which families have made the holiday more eco-friendly for ages. Some families have been passing down wreaths from generations and this is not just the only tradition that is sustainable. What have you been doing in your family as a tradition that is sustainable?

This not only applies to this holiday, but for other holidays as well. Before you begin to purchase, stop and ask yourself if you can reuse, repair or upcycle anything you already own.