Natural New Age Mum

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Have a very GREEN Christmas with these eco-friendly tips!

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Have a very GREEN Christmas with these eco-friendly tips!

“Australians are expected to spend about $10 billion on food over the Christmas period, but a staggering 35 per cent will be wasted and end up as landfill.” ABC News.

“A recent Australian survey by McCrindle Research has shown that 78.5% of Australians have received a present that they didn’t want. 13.7% of people will throw away these unwanted presents – meaning they go unused from manufacturer to landfill.” Clean Up Australia.

I know ‘statistics’ are a grey area, but I certainly believe there is a lot of waste happening at Christmas time. When you think that most people buy at least a couple of presents, multiplied by everyone in Australia, it’s not too hard to figure out, that is a whole lot of paper, cards and packaging right there!

This whole over-consumption thing started bothering me a few years ago. We are by no means perfect, but by thinking ahead and opting for the most environmentally friendly options, we are doing our little bit.

Here are some of my top eco-friendly tips for having a greener Christmas this year.

♥ Christmas Cards

I have taken to sending mostly email greetings on Christmas Eve every year.  I usually jazz it up a bit and include some photos of the kids and the dog in their Christmas gear so it’s a bit more special! You can even Elf Yourself and give the rellies a bit of a laugh.

If you still want to send cards, purchase some eco-friendly Christmas cards, like these from Australian company, Earth Greetings.

Make sure all your cards go in the recycling bin after Christmas or donate to your local childcare, kindy or school for crafts.  Alternatively, you could keep them and upcycle them into various craft projects next year.

♥ Parcels

Save postage bags and packing material throughout the year to reuse at Christmas time. Read more here.

♥ Christmas Wrapping

There are so many alternatives to paper for wrapping gifts, from fabric and kids’ artwork to reusable bags. Check out a few here.

♥ Food Wastage

Plan your Christmas menus ahead and try not to overcater – there is only so much you can fit in your tummy! Make sure you get the leftovers back in the fridge quickly and have a plan for them. If you won’t eat them within three days, then freeze or giveaway. Find out where in your area will take leftover food. Compost what you can as well.

♥ Ditch the disposables

I know disposable crockery and cutlery is really handy and saves so much work. But, they really have an impact on the planet, particularly if they are not bio-degradable. If you are having lots of people over, grab some extra crockery and cutlery from the op shop. You can always donate it back later or pop it away in a box for next time you entertain.

If you want to go disposable, investigate some green options like these biodegradable. compostable palm leaf ones.  I think they look so much more stylish than plastic plates too!

♥ Christmas gifts

Consider consumable gifts like home-made treats or experience type gifts.

Charity gifts are fabulous for the person who has everything and they really make a difference to those in need.

If you are giving battery operated presents, consider also adding a battery charger and rechargeable batteries. When upgrading electrical items for Christmas gifts, make sure you recycle the old electronics. Find out where you can recycle near you, here. Electronic waste is fast becoming a huge problem in this country.

A gift card is always a good gift and it’s not wasted as the recipient can buy exactly what they want or need. To make it a bit more thoughtful, whack it in a home-made snow globe!! My favourite idea this year from The Creative Mama.

Diy Snow Globe Gift Gard

♥ Christmas decorations

I don’t get the idea of buying an entire set of new decorations every year! I just use the same ones I have had for over ten years. Buy quality ones that will last and take care of them. I love this idea of using egg cartons to store them – we also use shoe boxes padded with recycled tissue paper.

Have you ever thought of buying pre-loved Christmas decorations? Try op shops and local buy swap and sell sites.

You can also make your own Christmas decorations. Kelli from Be a Fun Mum has some fabulous ideas here.

When the Natural New Age Dad and I were first together, we didn’t have a tree. So I hung some cinnamon sticks, dried orange slices and walnuts from some branches with lots of tartan ribbon. Simple, but still festive! Take a look at Red Tart Art to see how to do the orange slices.

You can also source fair-trade and recycled Christmas decorations if you aren’t gifted in the crafty department.

♥ Christmas tree

Although I am not a fan of plastic, a good quality tree will last you for  years! If you have a fresh tree, you could compost it or use it for bark chips on the garden when Christmas is over.

You could also get creative and make your own Christmas Tree with recycled materials!

Wooden Christmas Tree

♥ Advent Calendars

Make your own with toilet rolls like this idea from Totally Green Crafts or make a wooden or fabric one that you can re-use every year. Check out my bumper list of Natural and Eco Advent Calendar Ideas.

 

I could go on forever – there are so many great eco-friendly ways to have a very green Christmas! It just takes a little creative thinking.

Tell me, what are you best eco-friendly tips for Christmas?

 

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Comments

  2. Great ideas Sonia! I bought all our Christmas decorations from a garage sale when I first moved in with my boyfriend (now hubby). They are still going strong today! Although I don’t decorate the house when we go away for Christmas so they only come out every second year. We have also decided in the last couple of years since kids started being added to both families, that we just buy presents for them and us adults just enjoy each others ‘presence’ xxxxx

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  3. If making salads in bulk quantity why not dress them as you serve. Un-dressed salads keep better and give you the opportunity to be creative in how they are used latter. Some un-dressed coleslaw and left over turkey is the base of a nice chow mein.

    Reply

  5. Wow Sonia, so inspiring! Fantastic post!
    I love making home made edible gifts and am passionate about using up every last crumb of leftovers into new delicious creations (turkey and prawn salad, ham and cranberry pies etc).

    Reply

  6. We have a small real tree that we bring in every year, I get a bit upset when I see all the beautiful trees being cut down just so we can have a celebration. Even if you mulch the tree afterwards it seems a waste. As for buying new decorations every year WHAT??? I’m afraid my Scottish blood wouldn’t allow me to do that.

    Love your blog and wish you and your followers a merry Christmas.

    Reply

  9. So many great ideas Sonia! Thanks so much. Will definitely try my hand making edible treats for Xmas pressies and you’ve inspired me to try to make a ‘tree’ out of recycled materials. Have a beautiful Christmas xx

    Reply

  10. Hi NMAM, 🙂
    I recycle my Xmas cards in a different way, by saving last years Xmas cards, then as most cards aren’t written on on the back of the picture half, I cut designs out of there to use as the next years present labels.

    Even cut using fancy scissors to get a crinkled edge.

    Saves buying labels and you can use the cards to remind you who to send a card to this year so you don’t forget anyone 🙂

    Reply

  11. I’ve made my own reusable Christmas crackers/bon-bons this year. I’m still working through the fillings but I bought some Christmas fabric in the sales last year then tore them into 11 inch squares (that’s what fitted the fabric). I overlocked the edges and now with a bit of ribbon or grass or whatever to tie at each end I can fill them with small gifts – wooden animals, a few lollies, write out some lame jokes (can’t have good jokes at Christmas, surely!) and then we can use the cloths for napkins too. 🙂

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  12. When I was growing up we opened our presents after Christmas lunch when everyone was there. We got to open our stocking in the morning (which was an actual ladies stocking full of small things) and we got one larger gift that we had to find as part of a treasure hunt. Mum used to write the clues – they were all riddles to solve – that lead us around the garden. Usually that gift was something substantial that was hard to wrap like a pushbike, boat or horse float.

    All Christmas paper was reused year in year out. We were taught from an early age to cut the tape to open a gift. It drives my husband nuts as he is a rip and bust man when it comes to unwrapping. After all the gifts were open dad would collect all the paper,fold it up and put it away in the box for next year. Cards were those small gift tags with out name types on it and they were re-used also. Back than it was not call eco friendly we were just a little weird. But then dad and mum did get rid of all the incandescent globes from the house in the 60’s and replace them with fluro’s that he had to have customized as only commercial products were available then.

    Reply

  15. Hi Sonia, great post. I have been following for a short while now – using your idea of making your own Room Diffusers for my friends this year – I always cut up my ham the day after Christmas and freeze it in small portions to use as sandwiches or on meat platters later on. My neighbours chooks get any left overs that wont last, I stopped doing cards a few years ago as they just get thrown away and this year we have been telling family to just pop a little bit of money in our 2 year olds account as she has too many toys already 🙂

    Reply

  16. Lots of great ideas here Sonia. When our kids were little I made a whole range of gift bags from lovely Christmas print fabric, with velcro closures. We gave all our gifts between all the extended family in those bags for many years, and I actually still use them for some gifts. I just realised that I made those bags around 33 years ago, and they still look great. Over recent years I have started to wrap gifts in nice bright tea towels and tied with a nice string or ribbon. The tea towels always come in handy, and there’s no rubbish to clean up.

    Judtih

    Reply

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