Christmas is the most wasteful season in the year but making a small change will make a huge difference. Listed in this post are some good habits that you can try to implement. They will help to reduce your waste in this time of climate crisis but they also won’t be noticeable in your day-to-day life!

• Use brown paper to wrap your presents

The commercial wrapping paper is made from non-recyclable materials such as plastic among other things. It is really hard to recycle and often goes straight to landfill. To avoid this you can use brown paper! I much prefer the aesthetic of brown paper anyways because it adds a rustic effect and it can be personalised! You can draw and decorate it if you have time (which congratulations if you do)

• Carefully unwrap presents so that you can reuse the wrapping paper

If the brown paper doesn’t work for you (I know that as a child I wouldn’t be best pleased with plain brown!) then you can always reuse paper from previous years. Our family has a small stash of wrapping paper that has already been used once.

• Don’t send cards with glitter on them

I didn’t realise how many cards have glitter on them! If you put into action any of these tips then please make it this one. Glitter is non-biodegradable which means that the whole card won’t be able to be recycled. At the rate trees are being cut down it’s essential that we decrease the demand for paper buy recycling what we already have!

• Don’t send cards to people you barely know

Linking to the previous advice – don’t send cards to people you barely know! If I was to receive a card from my great-uncle’s girlfriend’s son I wouldn’t really care about it. Only send cards to people you know and if they are close family then make it! It’s so special to receive a card that you know someone had spent time making. No big, fancy card can beat it!

• Shop locally/at independent stores

Knowing where your presents come from adds a reassurance that you don’t get when you buy at retail parks. Supporting your local economy is a really important investment and will return is different forms such better public services and more books in the library!

It’s really important to reduce waste at Christmas but the season is already stressful enough. I hope that these tips are easily achievable and don’t add any weight on your shoulders! Sometimes I can sit down and feel peaceful though throughout most of the week it’s a rush of school, theatre, blogging, social events, cooking, cleaning and the anticipation of the weekend. There is clarity but there isn’t much relaxation!

How are you going to spend Christmas? Do you find that the effort you go to pre-Christmas is ever rewarded?

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