The handy tips in this guest post are brought to you by Less Waste Laura, an absolute babe “changing the world one less plastic free bottle at a time”.
Laura is a constant inspiration on how to waste less in our everyday lives and this year delivered a kick ass Ted Talk on kicking the plastic habit – you can check it out by clicking here.
Gift giving – the zero waste way
Firstly, buying your gifts. In the UK we spend approximately £700 million on unwanted presents – what a waste!
Experiences and gifts which allow me more quality time with my friends and families, or things they can use over and over again. Ideas might be experiences or memberships to things. One of the best gifts I received for a birthday was a membership to the National Trust. It’s been so useful and I’ve used it loads, it just keeps going – and it was a very reasonable price! Think about Netflix, Spotify, Gym Memberships, Sky Movies, cinema passes and so many more! These are great for older kids and teens too!
Support your local economy and makers
Second to buying experiences/activities, try and think about buying plastic free local gifts. Instead of going to a big brand beauty shop and getting a pre-made gift set, can you find a local business? Is there a local soap maker, beauty shop or brand which you can find?
Sustainable Wrapping
We need to also think about the wrapping. Some great alternatives are using recyclable brown paper or newspaper and sprucing up with your own designs! Get kids involved doodling on the paper too! Think about using string and natural twine for holding it all together. One of the other alternatives is reusable options, big sacks which could be personalised and used every year (saves individually wrapping everything) or going along the lines of the Japanese style using fabric to wrap and this can be used again and again.
Eco Decorations
Almost every year you’ll pull out your old decorations and something will have broken or needs replaced, or even you just get tired of the design. Why not look for plastic free sustainable alternatives? Some of the things I’ve been exploring, have involved natural alternatives which will make durable and sustainable decorations.
Simple things like taking citrus fruits and drying them, adding spices and sprigs of trees to make them festive looking makes great baubles. Just like pine cones with some eco glitter and a little tealight on the top make great candle holders, or also baubles. Think about making a wreath out of all-natural things you find out and about, or go look in a local garden centre.
Christmas Trees
If you are getting a real Christmas tree, make sure it is one approved by the FCS Commission or the Soil Association – this ensures its sustainability. Sometimes you can get a tree with potted roots which means that year on year you can plant it back into your garden until you need it next. If you don’t have this option make sure you recycle your tree afterwards for composting or paving – there are 8 million trees sold every year in the UK so it is important we dispose of these responsibly.
Feed me sustainable this Christmas
Big loves to Laura for sharing these tips and showing us that small changes can help us all reduce our waste this Christmas without sacrificing any festive fun!
You can find lots more tips and tricks on her website too so be sure to check it out.
If you have any other tips then please let me know!
You can also follow me on Instagram for lots more Christmas ideas!
Big Christmas Hugs,
Gems x
