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This time of year we tend to consume more and spend more. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE giving and getting gifts for Christmas but I wanted to share some simple ways that I’m trying to have a more sustainable holiday season. It’s actually not that hard to keep in mind ways to reduce waste while still enjoying all of your favorite holiday traditions.
But first, here are some stats to take in…
- During the holidays, Americans produce an additional 5 million tons of waste (4 million of that consists of wrapping paper and shopping bags).
- 35% of Americans have gifts that they never use.
- If every American family wrapped just 3 presents in reused materials, it would save enough paper to cover 45,000 football fields.
- 60 million unwanted gifts are given each year, many end up in the trash.
- Most wrapping paper is not recyclable.
Here Are Some Ways To Be More Sustainable This Holiday Season
Green Gifting
Shop second hand: Websites such as Thredup (the worlds largest online thrift store), The Real Real (luxury consignment) and Poshmark (it’s like shopping your friend’s closet, except you have thousands of friends) are smart alternatives to shopping brand new items from traditional retail stores.
Check out antique stores: I absolutely love a treasure hunt in a good antique store. You can always find some pretty unique gifts there. Or if you’re like me, go in with every intention of buying gifts for others but end up buying a ton of stuff for yourself.
Give Intangible Items: Tickets to a sporting event or concert, membership to a local club, a gift card to a spa or restaurant, or a subscription to an online magazine or streaming service. We often don’t think of these but they tend to be more enjoyable and a heck of a lot less wasteful.
Shop from brands that emphasize sustainable and ethical practices. I have a whole list over on my holiday gift guide but some include: Everlane, Alternative Apparel, Thought, and Outdoor Voices. To have a more sustainable holiday season notice where you are spending your dollars. Is it going towards companies that share your same values?
Eco Conscious Wrapping
This is probably where the largest amount of waste is produced during the holidays.
This year try using reusable or recyclable wrapping options. Wrapping paper that is un-laminated without any metalic, shiny, or glitter is your best bet if you want recyclable wrapping paper. Just note, tissue paper is not recyclable, but you can compost it.
Newspaper, butcher paper, paper bags are a recyclable option. My mom was a teacher so each year she would bring home a big roll of brown paper and we would decorate it with markers, paint, and stamps. That made the wrapping a bit more personal, and it had a sweet DIY look too. You can get really fancy and use flower seed paper, so that after it is used you can plant it and grow flowers! Fabric and reusable gift bags are also great options. I always save gift bags and reuse them again and again, but I’m pretty sure everybody does that too.
Ribbons and bows are not recyclable so try to use cloth ribbon that is you can use year after year. If you are gifted those traditional shiney paper bows and ribbon see if you can reuse it before you chuck it in the trash. Twine is compostable alternative to ribbon, and you can use things like greenery, cinnamon sticks, and pine cones to decorate gifts instead of bows.
Real or Fake Tree?
Ah the age old debate. When looking at it from a sustainability standpoint they both have pros and cons, so either way it probably doesn’t make much of a difference. But it’s always good to be informed…
Real Tree
Pros: Christmas tree farms produce oxygen so I guess it’s a good thing to support an industry that produces oxygen. They are compostable once the holidays are over.
Cons: They are used for just once season then tossed, so the life span is really short. Most people don’t compost them so they end up being very wasteful when millions of trees end up in a landfill.
*If you are going to get a real tree try to get a local Christmas tree at a farm near you so it doesn’t have a big footprint being transported long distances*
Fake Tree
Pros: They can last for many years which saves real trees from being cut down and put in landfills.
Cons: When it is time to retire the tree it’s definitely not compostable or recycleable.
Sustainable Holiday Decorations
Natural & Compostable
For decorating your home use natural items such as real garland. Bonus points if you can make it yourself using twine to tie the greenery together because as you might recall, twine is compostable. Other natural decorations you can make yourself that are compostable are cranberry/popcorn/dried orange garland, pine cones, or take the low branches they cut off your tree when you buy it and use them to make a wreath.
Second Hand Decorations
If you go to antique or thrift stores around this time of year you will see so many second hand decorations. Most of them are in great shape, and even have some charm if they are super old. If you are going to buy things new make sure you buy items that you will use for many years rather than disposable decorations or trendy decor you will be sick of by next year.
Carbon Neutral Travel
- If you are traveling by air or by car this year and want to have a sustainable holiday there a websites you can use to offset your carbon footprint. I haven’t used them yet but places like Carbon Fund and Terra Pass will offset your carbon footprint (for a fee obviously).
- You Can also donate to well respected organizations such as Cool Earth, Gold Standard, Coalition for Rainforest Nations, The Clean Air Task Force, Mangrove Action Project, and COTAP.
- A free option is by booking your hotel through Trip Zero which is a hotel booking platform like we’ve all used, but by booking through them they will offset your trip for free! I use it whenever I need to go to a hotel.
Eco-Entertaining
We can’t forget about entertaining! To have a sustainable holiday gathering avoid disposables at parties whether you are hosting or a guest. If you are a guest offer to bring extra silverware, plates or glasses so the host doesn’t need to use plastic utensils or paper plates. Compostable utensils and plates are also becoming more of a thing nowadays (yay) so if you are having a large gang they might be a great option. Most plastic utensils and paper plates are not recyclable because they have food on them.
