Here’s some great tips for a Greener Christmas from sben members EQM, who have developed with sben our FREE Carbon Tracker online tool.
Did you know, an extra 30% of rubbish is produced and discarded throughout the festive period, in the UK, when compared with the rest of the year?
In 2017, a poll of 2,000 adults suggested the nation would get through “more than 40 million rolls of sticky tape and bin almost 100 million black bags full of packaging from toys and gifts”.
So here are 3 ideas for reducing your festive footprint…
1. Ethical gifts
There are lots of options for more ethical and eco-friendly gift giving. For instance, choosing experience gifts over physical gifts can help create memories and reduce waste. Sourcing gifts second-hand is another way you can reduce their environmental impact.
Alternatively, choose items that are made from natural or recycled ingredients/materials, don’t come packaged in unnecessary plastic and are made/sold by ethical brands (who uphold this ethos throughout their entire product range). Support local, independent businesses as much as possible.
Need some inspiration? Check out these gift ideas from EQM award holders:
- Pamper someone with some handmade, natural skincare products from Coconut Blush
- For the more adventurous, Acclimbatize have a range of activities to suit all abilities
- Lymestone Brewery in Stone, Staffordshire, have gift packs available
- Check out our list of award holders in the Peak District and Staffordshire for more gift inspiration
2. Sustainable wrapping
Reuse wrapping paper and gift bags you’ve kept from last year. You can also cut up old Christmas cards to make gift tags. If you need to buy new, choose plastic-free gift wrap/bags/tags made from recycled paper.
Get creative and use what you already have, such as brown parcel paper, newspaper, magazines. Adorn with raffia, lace, ribbons, colourful paper tape or even a sprig or two of Christmas spruce (it looks AND smells amazing).
Perhaps you could have a go at Furoshiki – a traditional Japanese gift wrapping technique using fabric squares. You can buy purpose made Furoshiki wraps but any square of material will do. Watch this video to see a couple of Furoshiki methods for wrapping boxed gifts.
3. Reduce food waste
Food waste increases significantly at this time of year. We Brits throw away 74 million mince pies and the equivalent of 2 million turkeys each Christmas.
Help to reduce your food waste by planning ahead and only buying what you need. Use leftovers the next day (pretty standard for a boxing day, right?) and share surplus food with friends, family and neighbours. You could even share surplus food with others via local Facebook groups or apps like Olio.
Freeze what you can and compost what you can’t (or feed to the chickens).
These are just 3 ways we can all try to reduce our environmental impact this festive season. We’d love to hear your own tips on social media – tag us in to your posts so we can share them!
Twitter: @PeakDistrictEQM / @SEQM
Facebook: @PeakDistrictEnvironmentalQualityMark / @StaffordshireEQM
