A sustainable Christmas| My Tips

Sustainability is trendy at the moment and I do hope it will be until we sort out (hopefully) the mess the planet is in right now, but I am not going to talk about the incertain future we are all facing.

We feel like sustainability is even more important during holiday season and in particularly during Christmas. Christmas is the worst culprit largely in front of Halloween.

I will spare you all the detail but I am sure you are all intelligent enough to understand that Christmas is a season were we buy an outrageous and scary amount of things and which most of them are not needed, wanted and will end their life in a land field near you.

And for this reason my husband and I decide to stop this mad mass consumerism that is Christmas and to try our very best to make a sustainable one as much as we can and not just for this year but for the rest of our life.

But having say that we still want to enjoy Christmas this is why I decided to share with you few tips we learned along the way and if you have more to add to the list , then please feel free to add it in the comment session because we are still novice and we are not perfect but we are trying very hard to do our very best. 

So how are we going to celebrate Christmas and trying to be as sustainable as possible whenever is possible?

Here my few tips:

Enough Cra*

Stop buying cra*, sorry to say things as they are because they are cra*s.

The more rubbish you buy the more unnecessary rubbish will be made in China or else I am talking: Christmas plastic straws, Christmas bottle jumpers, Christmas hats, Christmas plastic wine glasses, Christmas gifts that your family / friends don't need or want. 

The amount of Christmas tats in your house or your family /friends' house will not make you/ them more Christmassy/ happier... trust me. 

Buy second hand gifts /décor 

Charity shops are amazing. I shop more in charity shop than normal shops. They are a sustainability choice fill with amazing things if you take the time to look and if you often visit them (as their stock change all the time). I found, believe me or not, amazing gifts for my toddlers stocking that I already know she's going to love and they are toys already in circulation. And let not mention the large amount of money I already saved by not buying those toys new. I found 2 Barbies barely used, Helsa from Frozen doll, few Disney DVDs, kid playing stamps etc. All those cost me maybe a total of about £15 at the most. I probably saved myself £60. My daughter  won't care less is they are in a box or not and if they are new or second hand. Charity shops are a mine full so do consider them and not just for gifts but also for Christmas decorations.

Stop buying table crackers.

Those are the worst culprit most of them are made of materials that are not recyclable and those tacky plastic frog or tiny red plastic fish, that you never going to keep, are going to end in a land field and they still be there in 100 years time in their original form. Buy recyclable alternative instead if you must have some.

Stop secret Santa

Yes no one like Secret Santa ever ( I never did and I never will and trust me a lot of pople I know feel the same about it too!) and no one want an other £5 gift that you dont need/ want. Instead exchange home made bake for your colleagues. Much more fun and you get to come back home with yummy treats to share with your love ones. What s not to love?

Stop buying sequins and glitters

Those plastic made materials are not recyclable and are already being found in the food we eat and water we drink. A sustainable choice its to avoid them or to use what you already have in your wardrobe, or if you really need a new glitter dress then look for an alternative recyclable materials.

Buy second hand or from recyclable materials

Do not buy new but buy second hand instead. Something my husband and I have been already doing . because perhaps we do not want any gift for our self, our daughter of 2 and a 1/2 years old can not miss on not having any gifts for Christmas. So far all her gifts that we bought her are second hand or made of recyclable materials (wood, carton, bamboo etc.) . And trust me if you put your mind into it it, is not as hard as it seems! Many companies now offers toys alternative made of recycleble materials or comes from sustainable wood so look out for them.

Christmas Tree.
Fake are better. You won't believe the amount of water , ground etc. needed to grown one Christmas tree that would be used once , it is crazy and not sustainable. Preferably fake Christmas tree can last you years but if you really want a real one then preferably one that come with root so you can plant it in your garden or in a large pot. And think about it you can re-use that potted Christmas tree year after year and it will cost you nothing, just the effort of few strong arms to bring it back in your lounge for December each year. This is what my parents used to do when we were children until one day or potted tree become too big so it was re-planted in the ground. Great alternative and much more special to see your Christmas tree growing.

Support small and local business | Eat sustainable.

For me and my husband this year we'll be supporting local farms, even so we reduced our meat consumation by about 80% the past 4 years (we no longer eat any red meat, pork and fish) we did some research and the most sustainable meat to have for Christmas are from direct farmers and especially from the poultry so think: pheasant, pigeon, partridge, goose, duck etc. and this is exactly what we'll have for our Christmas meal and our New Year 's eve. Two pheasants and one duck (bough locally) that are already waiting for us in our freezer. So in other news don't buy beef, lamb, fish, turkey and pork, which are not sustainable, but look out for other yummy alternative. Same with all vegetables, which would be in due time, purchase directly from our local farm shops. It will reduce plastic packaging, carbon foot print and you get to spend the money on families that work very hard to bring you the best from their farms at a very fair price. That money could perhaps mean for those families that they can offer to pay a little holiday to their kids in Dorset and I rather giving my money to them than Tesco or Sainsburys (they wont care less about their staff/ suppliers as long as they made a fat profit) . Make the right choice.

Think charity gifts.

Instead of giving gifts why dont you give to charity on the name of the people you love? Crisis UK for example is one of the very popular charity organisation during Christmas time but of course up to you to which organisation you wish to give. Spend the money to people that really need it.

And remember what the spirit of Christmas is :

Christmas is not about the gift...trust me it is not. Medias and big companies are trying to make you think it is by bombarding us with millions of advertising of stuff we don't need to buy but remember what Christmas is really about. It's not about the latest gadget or the expensive gifts . No its about the unconditional LOVE that do not come in a gift box. 

Cheesy as f**k (and oh boy do I hate cheesy quotes!!!) but it is a truth, share the love with the people you want to be with, create memories not gifts.

Merry sustainability Christmas to all of you!

Marie