How to have an as eco friendly as possible Christmas?

[EyeEyeCaptainCaptain]

I really want to try and make this Christmas much much more eco friendly. We've managed to make lots of little changes this year to our day to day lives so I'm feeling ready to also tackle Christmas but I don't want to make it any less special or have to change any traditions.

I thought it might be a good idea to have a thread where we can all share tips and ideas of small or big changes you can make.

My first one is not buying pointless filler gifts. Only buying stuff that I know is wanted/will be used/will be appreciated.

I am also going to try and work out how to wrap presents without sellotape which I will probably really struggle with as mine look awful even with sellotape!

This is a great thread. Hoping people read and also reconsider what they purchase for the sake of Halloween too. The plastic decorative tat and pumpkin waste is crazy!

Some great ideas here. Love the Advent of Change - haven't come across that before.

love all the ideas.

Love the furoshiki fabric wrapping idea. I'm going to scour the local charity shops and jumble sales for scarves.

Some more really brilliant ideas.

I particularly like the idea of making drawstring bags. I've got loads of random bits of fabric about so will finally be able to find a use for them.

We are also going for an eco friendly Halloween, not buying any new decorations. Will make some more out paper and keep them for next year too.

I am looking for an alternative to all the Halloween sweets wrapped in plastic though, any ideas?

I use my baby muslins as the fabric for wrapping presents. They are a good size, and look nice when used for origami-style wrapping (I learnt how to do it through YouTube videos). I’m usually there when the present is opened, so just scoop them up after all the present-giving is done.

We've just set up a secret Santa instead of crackers. £5 limit and wrapped in brown paper, left in a bag then put on the table.

I’ll probably give my husband a blowjob. It’s what he wants more than anything anyway. No packaging and free. Gotta love homemade!

STOP PRESS!

SELLOTAPE IS BIODEGRADABLE!!

It’s made of cellulose from plant cells. Have a look on their website.

A quick google suggest there is a biodegradable version? Could be wrong

I'm not sure if Sellotape is biodegradable, but my understanding was that even biodegradable things won't degrade in the anaerobic conditions within landfill sites.

Bioplastics are a bit of a red herring really. They decompose in very specific conditions but remain intact in landfill conditions and in the sea; the manufacturing process can be problematic with toxic byproducts. They’re better than petroleum based plastics but still far from eco friendly.

Inspired by the fabric wrapping I’ve just picked up some squares of Christmas fabric from ALDI. They’re called fat quarters and you get 6 different patterns in a pack. Each piece is 46cm x 56cm and it’s £3.99 for a pack. It’s probably cheaper to get a metre of fabric from the market, but I thought they’d be handy just to try out on some of the smaller gifts before I go buying loads of fabric and they can always be used as Christmas napkins as well.

Have just got round to reading the full thread and there’s some great tips. Like the idea of using old muslins as fabric wrapping. Or the Aldi fat quarters

I've noticed some people will buy ANYTHING if it's a bargain - even if they have no use for it!

I think that this is the real need, to buy less. We have cut out adults (unless they are here on Christmas day then it is small and bespoke) and massively reduced stocking fillers etc.

I don't get people who buy generic gifts and then decide who they are for, just adding to the tat mountain. Or people who buy loads of gifts ti get to a certain value- so making the hampers of doom.

I dont have a value, I might spend £2 or £200 on someone, the question is will they love it?

I dont get the giving of stuff that people need (so Lynx deodorant sets etc) That doesn't give joy.

So buying recyclable is great but buying less is even better.

Reduce daily consumption of unnecessary waste: takeaways packagings, plastic toys, polyester clothings; cancel all hard copy marketing materials, swap shampoo/body wash to soap(reduce plastic packaging), stop sending Christmas cards; buy loose products rather than packaged ones;buy second hand stuff...

I've posted https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07JJNPVT4/ref=cmswwrcppapiii_T3sXDbD9JPJQW these brown paper gift bags] before, and even though the price has gone up, they still look good value? I ordered a month ago and they are still in transit so certainly not quick, but recycled, recyclable, and with paper stickers.

I haven't bought crackers for about five years , I bought some and we forgot to put them out and no-body missed them .

Cutting down on presents too. I don't want something 'just because'

I do a Beauty Advent for DD ( there isn't an Advent Calender out there that contains something she'd use each day) . I've used cellophane bags and sticker numbers before but this year I'm going to use a box ( TKMaxx one) re-used each day and tied with ribbon and wooden advent numbers (than I can use next year) . DD can use the box as storage .

I am going to get her a cat .

I'm going to Sponser one in her name ( our two blacks cats are CPL so I'm looking and trying to decide if I'll choose one like ours or completely different) .

DS likes money , he's easy to please . I need to wrap it up nicely , I thought putting notes into a book the tie the book in ribbon.

@oxcat1
I wish I had seen these earlier! They're perfect.

I do a Christmas Eve Hamper for my DC but the past couple of years it's on Dec 1st (mine are teens so still like the CEH but don't need the winding down on the 24th)

Used to be a box (that they used for storage) but they needed bigger , so I bought bags ( which though they're paper , they were plastic coated)

So this year , I'll do it as a bundle , neatly stacked an maybe a ribbon . I don't think they'll miss the bag TBH ( though there would be an outrage if there was no CEH !)

Reusable advent calendar of Santa's stable, adding a reindeer or accessory every day.

Cloth bag, or string wrapped paper. Stocking presents not wrapped.

Very few cards.

Home made presents. I have completely rejuvenated SIL's fave slippers - she will love them - plus have made her a felted mushroom scene using silk fibres from her wedding dress.

BlackBerry and apple gin, & chocolate-dipped candied peel for other people.

Am going to make posh olives for my Dad by getting cheapy olives and mixing with preserved lemons and fresh coriander. Yum!