The spirit of Christmas is about celebrating the giving of hope, good cheer, love, understanding, helping and goodwill towards men. It is never about harming the environment. But deep in our hearts, we know that our way of celebrating sometimes is bad for the Earth. Can we reduce the festive impact without making Christmas a boring one?
Of course we can!
Here are a few things we can shift to make Christmas a more joyful season to
celebrate:
1. Wrap your gifts in an eco-friendly way
Use recycled paper or cloth to wrap your gifts. Avoid glossy foil or metallic and wax paper.
Replace bubble wraps with unwanted magazine paper.
2. Sustainable gift: Make your own gift or buy gifts buy made with recycled materials
Bake cookies or make your own Christmas card with recyclables items as a gift. Otherwise,
search for gift that is made using recycled materials to support circular economy. Sustainable
gifts are also a good choice! Try giving a reusable cloth mask as Christmas gift especially during this Covid-19 pandemic!
3. Use reusable deco or second-hand deco
Keep you decorative items such as garland, ribbons and ornaments. Use it again next year, or you may just search for second-hand decorations from the thrift stores.
4. Donate your decorations
Do not throw away your unwanted decorative items after the celebration. You can always donate it or resell online so that other people can reuse it in future.
5. Zero plastic and no single-use items
Go for plastic-free festive because you can always find a replaceable item in the store. Do not go for single-use item such as cutlery or plates in your celebration because these are threats to our landfills and environment.
6. Use LED lights for house and Christmas tree lighting
We know that fairy lights and fancy lighting play an important role for Christmas as it
reassembles hope and joy. So just shift to LED lights that are more energy saving and less carbon emission. Don’t forget to turn off the lights during bedtime to save energy.
7. Reduce waste
Minimise the waste generation during your celebration. Plan your meal and keep the leftover in the fridge for heat up the next day rather than throwing it in the trash bin. Besides food waste, be considerate by manage your festive waste properly and segregate them accordingly for easier recycling.
Reference:
https://www.housebeautiful.com/uk/lifestyle/shopping/g25616166/sustainable-christmas/?slide=6
https://learn.eartheasy.com/guides/how-to-have-a-green-christmas/