It's that time of year again! Christmas is a wonderful time of the year. Celebrating, indulging and giving are a large part of the festive tradition, but can we do this ethically?
By making a few easy changes to your Christmas traditions, you can minimise your waste and become more mindful during the holidays. To help you, we’ve put together some easy swaps you can make this Christmas, to ensure that you have an ethical holiday season.
1. Give Consciously
The gift-giving season is nearly upon us, along with the added stress of what to buy. If you’re not sure of what to get someone on your list, opt for an experience that’s suited to their interests such as a concert, musical or dinner. This idea means less waste and you’ll know that the gift will definitely get used!
If you consider yourself more of the crafty type, put your time into creating a handmade gift. Handmade gifts are a great Christmas idea and your loved ones will appreciate the time & effort you spent preparing them. Jams, cookies, chocolate, a herb garden, bath bombs or candles are a few gift ideas that you can make at home.
If you’re not wanting to accumulate more gifts this year, let your loved ones know that you would like your gift to be a donation towards your favourite charity. Not only will you minimise your footprint by not receiving a physical gift, but you’ll feel great knowing that your donation has the potential to change someone's life. We love Where Pigs Fly Farm Sanctuary and Sea Shepherd Australia.
Stuck on options? Shop our great range of ethical and eco-friendly gifts.
2. DIY Advent Calendars
For some, advent calendars are ingrained in Christmas culture, counting down the days until the festivities begin. Traditionally, chocolate calendars are popular amongst children, but why not ditch the plastic, try something new and make your own? One of our customers, Kate, created her own advent calendar and stocked it full with Flora & Fauna goodies. If you’re looking for some DIY advent calendar filler ideas from F&F, consider a Hurraw Lip Balm, Viva La Body Natural Perfume, Green + Kind Cutlery Set, Treat Dreams Chocolate Bear or Bonvita Christmas Chocolates.
If you don't have the time to make your own advent calendar, we have plenty of options, just make sure you recycle the packaging responsibly!
3. Christmas Trees
There’s nothing like sitting around the Christmas tree surrounded by family and friends on Christmas day. It’s a tradition that a lot of families have grown up with, however, it’s one that can cause harm to our beautiful planet. Unfortunately, the mass production of artificial Christmas trees leaves an enormous footprint on our planet as they eventually end up in landfill. One way to reduce your impact is to grow, use and replant your own Christmas tree each year.
If you’re wanting to use a real tree but don’t consider yourself a green thumb, you can buy or rent a live potted tree. This alternative enables you to return the tree when the festive season has finished where it will be replanted for the next season.
Already have an artificial Christmas tree? Take good care of it so it can be used for many years to come. By caring for your tree, you can keep it out of landfill and even pass it down through generations!
And if you don't have a lot of space, try making this DIY Fairy Lights Christmas Tree.
4. Wrapping Paper
Each year Australia goes through approximately 365,000 metres of gift wrap, most of which are single-use. This year, reuse your gift wrap and use packaging you’ve already got at home, such as newspaper or shoe boxes.
Here at Flora & Fauna, we package all of our orders in a recyclable cardboard box padded with recycled paper, so if you’re planning on doing some Christmas shopping with us, make use of our packaging when it comes to wrapping time. And if you can't be bothered making your own gift wrap, we've got reusable gift wrap from Hello Snowglobe.
If you’re set on the idea of purchasing cards and gift wrap, we have a range from Earth Greetings of ethical Christmas cards and wrapping paper made from 100% post-consumer waste.
Top Tip: If you’ve still got last year's cards at home, cut off the front image and use them as gift tags.
5. Recycle During Christmas
Recycling at Christmas time sounds like a no-brainer, but when this busy time hits it can be easy to forget about ways to recycle that go beyond your household bins. When buying gifts, try to avoid items that require batteries. If you do require batteries for a gift, include rechargeable ones and when they no longer work, drop them off at your local Aldi and utilise their free battery recycling service.
If you receive a gift for Christmas that you know you’ll never use (it might be that Secret Santa!), don’t throw it out. Think of your options and consider donating, regifting, or swapping your gift with a friend or family member. It could be just what someone else needs.
Need to brush up on your recycling knowledge before the silly season? Read our blog on Recycling 101.
Do you have any other DIY Christmas Ideas? Let us know in the comments!
If you're in the festive spirit, you might want to check out our other Christmas blogs:
