Christmas is the time of year for giving back, that includes giving back to our planet and our grandkids.
Here are 5 ways to have a more sustainable Christmas.
Vintage Gift Wrap
Something I know I need to personally work on is using more sustainable materials for gift wrap. We wrap our beautiful gifts up to tear away and throw it all in the trash. Some alternative ideas for gift wrap is newspaper, reusing old gift wrap from a previous year or at the very least using gift wrap that is recyclable. Personally, I know I want to get better at this so I try to opt for parcel paper that can be recycled. My final recommendation is gifting experiences instead of physical items because those are usually the most memorable presents.
Gingerbread Houses
Giving up this tradition is a no in my household. We love carving pumpkins in the fall and we love decorating gingerbread houses during Christmas time, however once it's decorated it's rare that we actually eat the gingerbread house. The cookie itself is too stiff and it usually is out on the counter gathering dust for the days leading up to Christmas.
An alternative would be to use a Gingerbread house that's edible so there's less food waste. Two examples would be this chocolate gingerbread house or for some baking challenge you could make a bundt cake.
Speaking of food waste
Be realistic about how much everyone will be eating at holiday parties. There is so much food waste around the holiday time, an easy way to ensure this doesn't happen is to make sure if there are left overs that people are taking some home. If you choose to have a potluck even better because people will take their own dishes home and you won't be stuck with copious amounts of food.
A step further would be to eat only seasonal foods, you help your local farmers and the planet!
Single Forever
Decor, utensils, napkins, all things we tend to forget the impact of but all of it ends up in the landfill. Whether you are using paper decorations or your tablescape is mostly disposable items, there are tons of alternatives (and they won't kill the turtles). Try opting for linen or cloth napkins, use metal utensils you can enjoy for years to come and buy decor you know you can reuse every year.
Gold utensils that are sure to stir up conversation and save the planet.
Sustainable AND cute, do I need to say more?
Dress up your Christmas tablescape with this gorgeous golden candle set.
Under the Christmas Tree
Did you know that it's actually more sustainable to have a plastic tree rather than a live one ? Well only if you use the plastic one for more than 10 years, so if you are looking for a faux tree for the convenience make sure that it's a tree you're going to love for years to come. If not, feel free to opt for a responsibility sourced natural tree or if possible you could even rent a real Christmas tree that can be replanted afterwards. Personally, I use a plastic tree but it's one that I know I will use for years to come.
Happy Holidays!!
Love,
Simran
