Low Crap Christmas

[FurForksSake]

Anyone else trying to have a less wasteful Christmas? I want things to be festive, but there are lots of things I will no longer be doing or buying as I have become a bit more aware of their impact.

• All gifts will be usable or experiences bar stockings for the kids or specific requests
• No christmas cards aside from handmade and hand delivered ones
• No wrapping paper - brown paper and string instead
• No single use items for making meals
• Really good meal planning to make the most of left overs
• No BIG christmas shop with food we don't need to eat.

Maybe most people do this anyway? I just look at the magazines and all the things to buy and I feel a bit sick. Most of the things are going to end up in landfill within 5 years. There is just so much STUFF.

I am going to try and do 24 days of craft with my children for advent, all using stuff we already have or can collect. Also doing a reverse advent this month for the food bank to encourage us to be thoughtful and remember the giving aspect.

Am I being daft? Was I just being a wasteful idiot in the past or am I becoming Grinchy?

wentmadinthecountry I too am sorry for your loss, my youngest spent his first winter in and out of hospital with bronchitis and bronchiolitis it was so frightening.

I am hoping that we can strike the balance, there will be lots of nice things to eat, mainly homemade, lots of decorations (some of which we will make!) and lots of people. We have scheduled pants, Kew to see the lights, theme park trip with Santa visit, a trip to a garden centre with the grandparents as they have an amazing walk through grotto and a trip to Waddesdon to look at the house and drink hot choc in a teepee. So plenty of fun through December.

I am definitely trying to go for quality and luxury, but in small quantities, think one bottle of champagne over four of Prosecco :)

I think a lot about the different languages of love and I want my children to recognise that we all give and receive it in different ways.

Thank you - it's all a long time ago. I have 4 gorgeous children I'm very proud of so am very lucky indeed.

This is also the first year two of my 4 have moved out properly (as opposed to being at university and being home for holidays) so I'm feeling the need to make it extra special in a spending time and making quality choices - a proper Christmas! Am loving those stamps!

You've put me in the mood for some tidying up and festive making. Thank you :)

My 100% recycled and recyclable paper arrived today which I plan to decorate with stamps. Compostable tape on order. Have bought bamboo socks all round

miffmuff how about putting together baking sets? Include ingredients for a cake or biscuits in a large glass jar (we buy mustard and mayo in large jars), then include a small wooden spoon or an apron? Metal biscuit cutters? You could wrap it in a fun tea towel. If you did this for multiple children you could by the cutters and tea towels in sets and split.

Or maybe a gardening set? A ceramic pot (which you could paint if you are arty) and some seeds?

Ordered my turkey this week, I drive past the farm on the way to work. Reckon that's fairly good on the food miles, as well as supporting local businesses.

The kids are having some plastic stuff....I'm compromising on some things.

The locally gathered pine cones have had s snowy dusting of some white acrylic paint I've had in the cupboard forever and will look lovely on the tree added to the other decorations.

I'm figuring I can't quite go all out this year but I can improve things where I can. Small steps.

Good point about the food miles, I used to get it from the butcher but switched to online delivery from the supermarket. I’ll have to price it up.

Brown paper is more expensive than cheapo

Christmas paper

I agree that it is often cheaper to buy less environmentallly friendly things.
Its the sort of thing that may slowly evolve over the years -with supply and demand based on more consumer concern about the environment- but hard for those on low budgets in the meantime.