A Greener Christmas
Our Ten Top Tips for a Greener Christmas
Whilst we all love to wrap up with our favourite Christmas movies and drink mulled wine, the smell of the turkey cooking in the oven and presents lie waiting under the tree; It doesn’t leave much time to think about where all the waste from these festive delights ends up. Here in our list of top tips this Christmas, we try to help you make greener, cleaner choices!
Each year in the UK alone, 8 million Christmas trees are thrown away – amounting to 12,000 tonnes of waste! Which brings us to our first tip – recycle your tree! It can be chopped into firewood, or the needles can be used as mulch. If DIY is not your bag, check locally for a tree ‘drop off’ spot. Here in Guernsey this includes Le Friquet Garden Centre, Queux Plant Centre, Chouet Green Waste site and Longue Hougue Waste Recycling facility.
Our top tip number 2, whilst on the subject of trees, artificial ones may last longer but they are made from plastic, not recyclable and have probably been shipped great distances. Real trees help remove carbon from the atmosphere while they are growing (plus they smell good!) However, try to make sure you consider where and how they have been grown – e.g. sustainable seeds and cultivation to protect local wildlife. The soil association also certifies trees as organic so no pesticides have been used during growing.
- Turkeys – 10 million turkeys are eaten every Christmas in the UK alone, meaning around 3,000 tonnes of packaging is used! Where possible try to recycle any packaging and also try to make sure your turkey has been reared in the most humane conditions. If you can – buy organic.
- Defrost freezer before Christmas day – this will help it to work more efficiently and create more space for all those yummy leftovers.
- Clothes – instead of throwing them away, donate old clothes if you are given the gift of new ones this year.
- Presents – sometimes the most precious gifts are the most thoughtful and personal ones – instead of store bought, how about an experience? A massage, a dinner out or a music lesson? If you are buying from a shop, try to buy local – support local community and minimise your carbon footprint while you are at it.
- Decorations – how about making your own tree decorations? It can be a fun family activity for everyone to join in with and create meaningful keepsakes to hang every year. If you are in need of some inspiration, here is a website we loved; https://giant.sg/10-easy-eco-friendly-christmas-decorations-that-look-awesome
- Buy fruit and veg loose – ditch that plastic packaging! And once you have finished your delicious Christmas feast – try to compost all food peelings or even create your own wormery to help break down fruit and vegetable food waste into rich soil nutrition for your own garden.
- Christmas tree lights – try turning them off when they are not needed, even better you could switch to LED lights or lights that are powered by rechargeable batteries.
- Wrapping – this may well be the biggest of all the Christmas waste. Consumers in the UK use 227,000 miles of wrapping paper each year with a large amount of this ending up in our bins! Try using alternatives such as brown or recycled paper for your wrapping.