Have Yourself A More Sustainable Christmas

Top Tips For An Eco-Friendly Christmas

It’s that time of year again! The shops are overflowing with festive treats, the Christmas tunes are playing and there are adverts everywhere encouraging us to buy everything. However, the evidence is clear, our planet is paying the price for our mass consumerism. The UK is estimated to produce and extra 30% more waste over the festive period. This includes an eye-watering 125,000 tonnes of plastic packaging. We can all do our bit to make this Christmas more sustainable, with a bit of planning and thoughtful choices. Here’s how to ensure your Christmas is merry and bright without having a negative impact on the planet.

1. Buy less, choose well

This phrase coined by Vivienne Westwood in reference to the fashion industry’s fast pace and wastefulness, can be applied to all areas of our lives. Christmas is often a time of excess that can lead to waste. A report recently found that 50% of Brits receiving at least one unwanted gift each Christmas. We all like to buy gifts for our loved ones, to see their faces light up, and watch the joy that it can bring on this much anticipated day. Buying gifts is certainly not a problem in itself, but for a more sustainable Christmas we need to be thoughtful of what we are buying.

Look out for Fairtrade labels, organic products (Soil Association, or GOTS certification on organic cotton clothing) and sustainably made wooden toys (look out for the FSC certificate). At Babipur all the hard work has been done for you. We only stock products which meet the highest ethical and sustainable standards, so you can guarantee you are choosing well.

It’s worth keeping in mind second hand options too, especially for electronic goods. There’s more choice in the second hand market now, with excellent reconditioned and refurbished items available. For preloved wooden toys and ethical clothing, our Babi Pur BST Facebook page is the place to look.

2. Go local

When it comes to Christmas dinner it pays to shop local, for every £1 spent locally, 63p stays within the local economy. Head to you local butcher, greengrocers, health food shop, zerowaste shop, farm shop or farmers market. You will find produce comes with a lot less packaging, or even better, take your own bags and containers.

Look for organic, free range, outdoor reared and grass fed meat and dairy products and cut down those food miles. Look at getting a one off veg box delivery for Christmas to save that dreaded supermarket shop. You can ring your local butcher to order your meat (if applicable) for collection nearer the big day. Our local high streets and farm shops rely on our custom over the festive period to keep them afloat the rest of the year. As the saying goes ‘use them or loose them’.

3. Repurpose, reuse and recycle

When it comes to gift wrapping, simple is definitely better. Choose plain brown paper and decorate it yourself (or get the kids to do it) with some festive prints, raffia or coloured string. A lot of standard wrapping paper can’t be recycled due to glitter or shiny finishes. You’ll find a great choice of recycled and recyclable wrapping paper and fun paper tape >HERE<

Another increasingly popular way to wrap is furoshiki using cotton or scarves to wrap presents. Bring these out and reuse year after year. A rummage round in the charity shops is a good place to find scarves for this purpose, or we have some wonderful options by FabRap.

4. DIY

Doing it yourself is best if you want to cut down on food packaging! Mince pies, sausage rolls and vol au vents are all relatively easy to make ahead of time and frozen. Be aware of how many you are catering for to cut down on food waste. If you already meal plan, scale up the same principles to apply over the Christmas period.

When it comes to Christmas decorations, it’s best to reuse what you already have year after year. Replace any that have been damaged or broken with plastic free, glitter free and Fair Trade decorations, or try making some yourself! Popcorn garlands, salt dough, and paper chains are great for keeping the kids entertained and are biodegradable and plastic free. Ambrosius winter fairies are handmade from wool felt making the most magical decorations, and a Grimm’s celebration ring is perfect for celebrating Yule.

A Happy Babipur Sustainable Christmas!

We hope this has inspired you to give a sustainable Christmas a go. With a few simple changes, and a bit planning we can all look forward to a more sustainable festive holiday that’ll benefit our families, communities and the environment.

Let us know in the comments if you are having a sustainable Christmas this year. What tips you’ll be trying? Nadolig Llawen, a very Merry Christmas from all of Team Babipur!