Have an Eco Christmas - it is easier than you think!

08 December 2021

Here at TopGrass we are trying to think about how we can have a more eco-friendly Christmas and have found a few helpful tips to help us along the way. We have put together this helpful guide in case you might be thinking of doing the same thing. Now more than ever, we are all aware of the importance of living sustainably. We can even live by this mantra during the festive period, through our decorations, wrapping, and food.

Wrapping it up  

Gifts can be a big part of your Christmas, just picture the aesthetic of beautifully wrapped gifts under the tree! Shiny wrapping paper will look great under the tree and make your home look very Christmassy. The only problem is, it may look nice, but you can’t recycle most wrapping paper, bows or ribbons. When you think about it, these decorative aesthetics are ripped off in seconds and go in the bin a few minutes later. As an alternative, you could go for brown parcel paper, with recyclable red paper ribbon. This creates a lovely traditional, country-style for your gifts.

Tape: at the end of the day, it’s plastic, and again, it’s ripped off and thrown around quicker than you can blink. Better options would be to use gift boxes, bags, or reusable ribbons. At least once they are thrown across the room after being opened, you can use them the next year too, as long as the dog doesn't get to them!

 

Christmas cards: we can’t forget about those. It’ll be quite hard to recycle last year's Christmas cards, you can’t exactly ask your in-laws to give you back the Christmas card you gave them, to then give them the same one next year. Instead, maybe look for non-glitzy ones (as the additional glitzy items usually cannot be recycled), or even better, make your own from recycled materials or ones that can be recycled later on. Or why not even forego physical cards altogether and opt for digital versions? You can even liven these up with festive songs and videos!

  

Food   

It is hard not to buy everything you feast your eyes on when it comes to the Christmas dinner. The stuffing and pigs in blankets really are delicious, but be careful about overbuying as this could lead to food wastage. Instead, why not try to meal plan, only buy what you need, and then the few extras could be used for boxing day, just think of the bubble and squeak!  Another thing you can do is compost any vegetable waste produced from preparing those carrots and brussels!

You might notice your average Christmas food purchases also come with a lot of single-use plastic. A way to be more sustainable could be to buy your vegetables individually where you can pop them into paper bags before purchasing them, or simply head down to your local farm shop to shop sustainably and locally.

 

Rent a Christmas tree

Considering a more eco-friendly option for your Christmas tree? Real trees are far more sustainable than artificial options, yet still, 8 million trees will go to waste this festive period.

You can go one further this year by renting a Christmas tree. Companies such as Leicestershire-based Love a Christmas Tree or London-based London Christmas Tree Rental, offer rentable real trees, delivered straight to your door or picked up from their hubs. You can care for and decorate your tree this year, have it collected and replanted, and have this same tree again next year. This could make a lovely Christmas tradition to pass on from generation to generation.

Once the festivities have wrapped up, if you have opted to buy a tree this year, head over to recyclenow, to look for centres in your area to recycle your tree. Your tree will then be used as wood chippings in local woodlands and park areas!

  

Decorations  

If you have decorations outside, strings of lights, or even an inflatable Santa or two, there could be more sustainable ways to decorate your home’s exterior. You could make your own wreath from garden clippings to hang on your front door, making the frame with completely recyclable materials of course! You could go foraging for twigs and twine or even make a bird feed wreath, to encourage wildlife to your garden, even in the colder months.

 

We hope you all have a lovely time this festive period, and from all of us here at TopGrass, we send you well wishes to you and your family!

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