November has finally entered the building, and that only means one thing—Christmas! The most festive and cheerful time of the year. Christmas calls for endless mugs of hot chocolate, biscuits, family time, cheesy movies, and… waste?
That is correct. Although Christmas is filled to the brim with cheer and glee, unfortunately, so are our landfills, bins and oceans, with litter. According to UK statistics, British citizens are responsible for generating over 12 tonnes of waste in Christmas trees alone; this amounts to 8 million fake Christmas trees thrown away each year.
Although the statistics are shocking and, with complete honesty, horrific, this does not mean that we cannot celebrate the holidays at all in order to avoid contributing to these large numbers. Instead, we can incorporate alternative solutions this holiday season so we can celebrate without hurting our precious planet in the process.
Here are a few easy ways that you can celebrate sustainably, or better yet, sasstainably, this Christmas:
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Make your own Christmas cards!
On average, 1 billion Christmas cards are thrown right into the bin each year—all of those Christmas kisses and hugs (xo) for nothing, can you imagine?
Moreover, although Christmas cards are made from paper, when purchasing these cards, over 300,000 tonnes of plastic packaging is also used.
Rather than purchasing store bought Christmas cards this winter, why not turn the Christmas lights on, blast some Mariah Carey, and create your own cards? This can easily be made into a fun, festive activity.
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Use gift buying as an opportunity to support independent or local businesses Supporting local, independent businesses has always been of great importance, however there has never been a time where they have needed us more.
With the unpredictable changes of 2020, independent businesses are feeling utmost pressure in order to do what they can to constantly adjust in order to keep their business standing.
Let us support our beautiful little shops within our vicinity by treating our family, friends, and of course, ourselves, with their products and services.
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Focus on creating plant-based dishes for your 2020 Christmas dinner
Food most definitely takes the spotlight during Christmas. The array of cakes, snacks and dishes that come around during the winter are undeniably drool-worthy. To make things even better, there is now a vegan alternative for almost every single traditional Christmas treat!
Switch it up this Christmas and substitute your usual favourites with a plant-based alternative, or challenge yourself to making your Christmas roast mostly, if not completely vegan!
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Compost your Christmas leftovers
Food waste is unfortunately one of the largest contributors to generating harmful greenhouse gases such as methane, therefore making an evident impact on our climate.
Let us work against this this year by composting our leftover vegetables, peels, and even fruits.
You can also store your leftovers and freeze them in our new sustainable silicone pouches!
Warning: this is not be possible with leftover Yorkshire puddings. Therefore, the more excuse to stuff your face with them.
Overall…
Christmas may be the most wonderful time of the year, however it is important to be mindful of the amount of waste cultivated within this season.
Celebrate Christmas sustainably this year with the tips above; Mother Earth deserves to be joyful during this time of the year too.