Low waste, Low tat Christmas

[SheinIsShite]

I am not a Christmas fan and part of what I hate about it is the tat-fication of it all with all the shite which clutters up the shops between summer and 25th December.

Interested in sharing tips for things to do differently. Still have an amazing festive season, but without the shite, waste and tat.

Over the past few years we have tried to buy vouchers/tickets rather than physical stuff for the few people we have to buy for. One of my nieces has just started at uni and has asked for Nando's or coffee shop vouchers, we usually get a hamper for the inlaws. We don't tend to buy new decorations each year but last year I bought a garland thingy from the charity shop.

Any good ideas for things like crackers? Or good brands for sustainable/recycled gifts?

Maybe do a bit more of a diy Xmas? This year we are going to decorate baubles instead of having plastic toys from crackers. We’ve got Santa hats and reindeer headbands that are going strong after several years!
people usually get something useful, edible or an experience… often pick up gifts like socks / soaps / jams etc at museum gift shops too.
a (charity) book or two usually goes down well too…

I don't think we need more baubles though! I did suggest paper chains to the kids, we used to make them when we were little and it was easy and fun.

Can't go wrong with food or anything edible.

Crackers are easy to make if you save up toilet rolls. You can just buy the snappers to insert and then put in a joke and a gift of your choice. I used to make them with the kids when they were little using the old christmas wrapping paper that we had saved from the year before.

I also put out all the Christmas cards from previous years. Hardly anyone sends them any more but we've kept pretty ones for decorative purposes

This is my ambition for this year too. We’ve never really been a full-on tat household, but I feel really strongly the desire to simplify and minimise our Christmas. De-tattifying is part of it, but it’s a broader simplicity and frugality I’m after as well! We have 2 primary aged kids.

A few things I’ve done / am planning:

• Trello board with DH to split responsibilities. If it’s not my task, I’m not thinking about it again.
• For the past few months, some stocking-appropriate items that we might normally just buy or replace for the kids have been added to the stockings stash. So they’re both currently using slightly tatty (but still functional) swimming goggles, their Dad’s old sport water bottles, and underwear that’s getting a bit tired - and their stockings will be filled with really nice quality, useful replacements for these, rather than another bloody hot chocolate mug (though still doing chocolate orange and whoopie cushion. I’m not a monster).
• No adult presents, no secret santas from work / social groups.
• experience vouchers for niece & nephew
• A list of board game suggestions ready for all the grandparents and aunts and uncles who are going to ask me what to get for the kids.
• avoiding tat-toxic environments! We’re not going within a 5 mile radius of any Christmas Fayre, winter wonderland or similar. We’ll go into London one evening and go round on a bus to see the lights, and we’ll do carol and nativity events at church.

There are a lot of options for low tat crackers. My personal compromise is a cracker with no plastic tat gifts inside- i want the hat, the joke and the crack. But you can have ones with better gifts, reusable ones- into depends where your personal line is.

If you don't want "tat" and create waste then why do you feel the need to have crackers?
They aren't compulsory.

I love Christmas but I am completely with you on this. There is nothing I hate more than 'novelty' Christmas presents. DH is a sucker for them. I find them gathering dust, unopened, under DC's bed, year in year out.

DS1 (adult) loves second hand presents: second hand books, clothes, china and glassware and silverware for his flat. I'm buying for him from antique stores, charity shops and ebay. Same for his partner.

I bought cloth and some hessian bags a few years ago and use these to wrap most presents. I save ribbon and tie the cloth with ribbon, so less sellotape.

Cards from previous years are made into gift tags.

We cut holly, ivy and cotoneaster berries from the garden to make wreaths and mantlepiece decorations.

For fun without tat we do trad things like play charades, bananagrams, write silly Christmas quizzes. And we go to see a show or concert together as a main present from family.

I ask for perishables as main presents - nice soaps or food.

I have really gone off crackers. To me they are the ultimate tat, but DH made his own last year and put small presents inside that people would actually use and jokes people actually laughed at. It was sweet. But still a second or two of fun for a lot of waste.

I bought some reusable Christmas crackers and hats from the Oxfam shop a couple of years ago. The crackers fasten together with velcro, so don't go "bang". But i can fit in a lottery scratchcard and a small gift (i use miniature whisky/port but sweets would do) and I look up cracker jokes online, print them up and cut them out for each cracker. But there's only 3 of us for dinner not a huge table full.

My artificial Christmas tree is around 20 years old (was expensive when I bought it) and most of the baubles are a similar age.

How about making Danish Advent stars, sometimes called Froebel stars? You can buy pre-cut paper strips (you can cut your own but they do need to be very precise) and there are lots of YouTube videos showing how to make them. A bit more involved than paper chains but very pretty.

We’ve also gone down the no plastic tat, no novelty gifts line for a while now. Nice things people need or have specifically asked for, favourite treats or nice food ingredients they will use as extras.

I think avoiding the environments that are full of tat is very clever….I’ve never really considered that, but whenever we end up anywhere like that we come away feeling grossed out by the tat, the excess, the fakeness of all of it. An evening of hot chocolate or mulled wine at home, with Mince Pies or Gingerbread or whatever Christmas treats you enjoy, and Christmas music or a Concert on TV or a Christmas movie. Way nicer and more festive.

I also have an artificial tree. I think they are supposed to be the ecofriendly option if you keep them for 10 years. Mine is on year 17 and still as new.

Decorations are the same every year, they live in a box in the loft.

I struggle to understand people who buy new decorations every year. It must cost them an absolute fortune.

I buy one lovely bauble each year for the DC and they go into their stocking. The aim is that by the time they are in their twenties and have their own house they will already have 20 or so nice high quality baubles with memories attached to them. I'm hoping that way they just continue to gradually build that collection and pass it down to their own children.

We have an artificial tree too. It was bought in 2021 and was not cheap but I fully intend never buying another. The one it replaced was at least 20 years old and was a cheapie from B&Q - it lasted pretty well. All of the decorations have been accumulated over the decades from various places, we do sometimes buy a new decoration on holiday, and I have some gorgeous vintage glass baubles from a charity shop.

Crackers I have bought the fill your own which are pretty good, we usually put wee chocolates inside.

We also don't buy loads of food which doesn't get eaten and is thrown out which appears to be a massive issue on MN in particular.

I have cut down the amount of overcatering but everything gets portioned and frozen. In the past it was not unknown for us still to have Christmas leftovers for months. The day of the last leftovers was a celebration in itself.

I don't do crackers and never have. Same tree and decorations apart from odd ones we pick up on our travels as memories.
Recyclable wrapping paper and tape or string. Last year's cards for gift tags. Greenery from the garden for wreaths or decorations.

We keep our tree in a pot in the garden, the previous one was 10 years old though this one is only 2.
My DCs love crackers though I try and get paper fillings only.
We also tend towards experiences (though we give a small thing to unwrap to go with them - DD and I are going to see Six so we'll get her the CD to unwrap) but we do give presents to adults - this year I'm thinking of doing food hampers. DPs will be able to pick theirs up though traveling by train so I'll have to make them all light/small and I'm thinking of a way to pack them easily (and also for postage for other family members).
DH needs a new lambswool jumper and I am going to buy from a company mentioned in Less.
I like the idea of a Trello board...