November 11

The Environmentally Friendly Way to Celebrate Christmas

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Christmas is a time for giving, but it doesn’t have to be environmentally harmful.

This article will discuss how you can go green this year and still celebrate the holidays in style! So read on to learn about the environmentally friendly way to celebrate Christmas.

 

Recycle your Christmas tree

environmentally friendly way to celebrate christmasIf you have a real tree, don’t just leave it for someone else to deal with after Christmas!

It’s quite easy to recycle your tree if you have somewhere that will take it from you, so there is no excuse not to do so. The process goes something like this: After the holidays are over and all of the presents have been unwrapped, remove any leftover tinsel and anything else that might be left on the tree branches.

You can then place your tree out in a place where it won’t obstruct anyone or cause an inconvenience – perhaps even in a neighbor’s yard. If you don’t want to put it in a public space, check with friends and family members who don’t live too far away and might be interested in taking it. If all else fails, you can find a recycling center or a nearby tree farm that will take your fallen pine if you give them a call.

 

Donate your presents

If there is anything under the Christmas tree that you have received and don’t want anymore, do not just throw it away! Why not think about donating it to someone less fortunate than yourself? Whether you donate to a charity shop or give it directly to someone who is less fortunate than yourself, this is an amazing way of helping out those who are going without over the festive season.

This year you could even consider going one step further and getting together with friends and family members so that everybody has a gift to donate – this would be a great way to spend some quality time together and help out those in need.

 

Go paperless

One of the easiest ways that you can reduce your carbon footprint this festive season is by going paperless! In today’s day and age, there are many different electronic options for sending cards, rather than traditional handwritten ones. If you must stick with sending out those good old-fashioned greetings cards, try to ensure that they are recycled or made from eco-friendly materials.

Plus, instead of buying a gift card at the last minute why not upload money straight onto a friend or family member’s phone? This will help their phones go further as they won’t be buying any new plastic wrap – win-win!

Read: Top eco friendly Christmas cards on Amazon (Link)

 

Buy sustainably sourced products

It’s important that you think about the origins of your Christmas presents – ensuring that they are made sustainably will mean less harm to the environment. If possible, try not to buy products that have been shipped halfway across the world – this obviously has a massive carbon footprint attached to it.

Many companies these days offer sustainable products so take some time out over the festive period and peruse those websites! Remember, if you can’t find those ideal eco-friendly gifts locally then don’t be afraid to shop online for those special items as it may save on packaging too!

 

Consider getting a rechargeable battery operated toy

Instead of purchasing new toys every year why not invest in something more sustainable? Toy manufacturers sell nearly 3 billion toys every year just in the United States, most of which end up in landfills. So why not opt for battery-operated toys this year? Toys that run on rechargeable batteries are obviously much easier to maintain than their single-use counterparts and can be reused time and time again without the need for any additional expense.

Not only does this save money but it also cuts down on waste! Perfect for those eco-friendly celebrities out there who want to set a good example to the rest of us – after all, if they can do it then anyone can.

 

Be kind with your wrapping paper

Maybe you don’t mind rifling through mountains of wrapping paper every Christmas morning – but if you’re one of those people who find themselves throwing away tonnes of wrapping paper each year, it might be time to think about where all your waste is going.

The average person uses an astonishing five square meters of wrapping paper each Christmas! So why not make things easier on yourself and choose something biodegradable? You could even use plain brown paper if you wanted – no one ever has to know! And if you’ve got no other choice but to throw it away, be sure to properly recycle cardboard and wrapping paper so nothing gets wasted and ends up in landfills!

Read: How to recycle paper and cardboard (Link)

 

Take your tree back to its origin

As well as donating your unwanted presents, if possible take the tree that you’ve brought along with you at Christmas back to where it came from – or at least try to reuse what you can of it. The pine forests that sell these beautiful trees lose a great amount of biodiversity due to deforestation for this purpose alone so you should try and do all that you can to help them out.

You could even get a real Christmas tree and then set it on fire in your back garden for a bonfire night! Just make sure you plant some trees to replace the ones that were lost.

 

Be respectful of recycling facilities

Christmas these days is all about new electronic toys for the kids, but with each new piece of electronic equipment, it’s important to consider where all your old electronics go when they become obsolete – the last thing you want is an overworked landfill site, or worse still, a drain! Making sure that you recycle responsibly will ensure fewer problems down the line – just be mindful of what happens to these items next time you upgrade your phone!

And while we’re on the subject, don’t forget about lead-acid batteries from cars either – try to return these instead of throwing them away because they’re much harder to recycle.

Read: How to properly recycle at home (Link)

 

Shop local

If you want to ensure that your Christmas shopping counts as an environmentally friendly activity then be sure to do it locally. This will reduce the carbon footprint attached to buying products from abroad and also help the local economy too – just think of it as giving back to the community.

And let’s not forget about buying local produce at Christmas too – we all love a mince pie but try and buy them from your local bakery so they’ve only had to come to a short distance instead of factories several miles away. You can also get homemade treats like jams and preserves and even chutneys and sauces if you look hard enough!

 

Don’t waste it!

If you’re reusing wrapping paper then don’t throw away any leftovers either – fold these together to make beautiful origami shapes or use them as bookmarks for all those new books that Santa brought along with him this year. You could save these for next year or give some out as gifts to your friends or family members – just make sure that you’ve got yourself some biodegradable ones!

 

Pull out the Christmas games

Christmas isn’t just about food and presents, after all, it’s also about having fun with your family too. So why not spend an afternoon pulling out all those traditional board games for a good old-fashioned game night? There are loads of board games on the market now that are non-electric so no need to worry about the house running out of battery life halfway through Connect 4.

You could even play charades if you wanted – although you might want to pick an alternative activity during Christmas dinner because let’s face it, charades are pretty much what everyone does when they’re eating these days…

 

Buy a reusable gift

Instead of buying your friends and family the same old plastic crap every year, why not opt for something that will last longer? You could even get them reusable gifts – how about a nice stainless steel water flask instead of yet another plastic bottle. Or how about an electric razor to help them stop using disposable razors all together?

If you want to go one step further at Christmas time, why not make everyone fruit cakes or pies made from organic ingredients instead of just throwing more money at packaging that’s never going to be reused anyway! There are lots of recipes on the internet if you search hard enough…

 

Use LED lights to light up the house for the holidays

LED lights use up to 90% less electricity than the old-fashioned lightbulbs that everybody used just a few years ago, so if you’ve got an old display in your house why not replace them with LED ones? You’ll be surprised at how much energy they can save…

If you want to go one step further then try and get all of the lights in your house fitted with LEDs – it will help everyone sleep better too because humans are programmed to think about food when they see lights so if there’s no need for food anymore, it helps our brains wind down for bed! It also makes us feel safe so it’s perfect for Christmas time!

Read: How to save energy at home (Link)

 

Make your own decorations

If you’re looking to make your Christmas extra special and want to do something that also helps the environment then why not try and make some of the decorations yourself? There are loads of tutorials online for everything from birth art to baubles and you could even find out how to do it during one of your family game nights.

It’s a great way to bond with your kids too – everyone loves making things so get everybody in the house involved! They’ll definitely be impressed when they’re hanging up their handmade decorations on the tree…

 

Use cloth napkin instead of tissue paper

If you’re hosting a party at your house this year and want to do something good for the environment then instead of using tissue paper, why not try and get hold of some cloth ones? They’re much better than the single-use paper you throw out, and come in all shapes and sizes so there’s no excuse not to look for them – just make sure that they don’t cost too much!

 

Plant something in your backyard

If you don’t have a backyard then plant something on the windowsill in your kitchen instead! It doesn’t matter what it is, just as long as you’re doing something that will help the environment. Maybe go for some herbs so that you can add them to all of your meals, or some flowers if you’re feeling particularly festive…

It’s a great way of giving back to Mother Nature and making yourself feel good at the same time – best of all, it doesn’t cost anything! Just make sure to keep up with watering them while they’re indoors though…

 

Donate to an eco friendly cause

There are so many environmental charities out there that will accept donations – whether it’s money or just time, you can’t go wrong with helping somebody else! To find out whether there are any in your area, just do a quick Google search or look up the internet.

It doesn’t matter what you choose to do as long as it helps us save the planet! We only get one Earth so we might as well make it last for as long as possible, and what better time to contribute than at Christmas time?

 

Conclusion

There are plenty of things you can do to make sure that your celebrations aren’t harmful to the environment. You don’t have to put a dent in the atmosphere just because it’s Christmas – instead, why not try and celebrate it in an eco friendly way this year! It’ll be fun for everybody involved. There are so many ways you can get involved, so get researching today – you never know, maybe next year your whole street will be getting involved too!


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