6 Tips for a Green🌿 Christmas

Christmas holidays are typically filled with lots of excess and wastage. Research shows that most of it comes from decorations, gift wrapping and packaging. The intensive use of plastic during the holidays has become such a 🔥hot topic. How do you cut down on plastic, while retaining the festive spirit? Check out our 6 tips for a sustainable Christmas this year.

🌱SUSTAINABLE DECORATIONS

Tip1-> Plastic-free decorations

All Christmas trees are beautiful, but those garnished with grape fruit decorations are even better! Reduce your environmental impact today by using natural🌿 decorations. If your creative juices are flowing, you can even make them yourself at home!

What if time is an issue? That's easy, you can purchase ready made dried grapefruit slices at Waste Me Not in Zimbabwe, or visit Esty.com for those in South Africa.

🌱SUSTAINABLE GIFTING

Tip 2-> Package-free gifts

Gifting your loved ones is one way to show them that you care. However, this wonderful gesture easily falls short if the gift negatively impacts your environment🥴.  Wrapping paper is used and discarded very quickly making it a significant contributor of 🚯waste during the holidays. So consider giving package-free gifts. The Refillery has a few ideas to inspire your next zero waste gifts.

Tip 3-> Reusable Fabric Gift Wrap

What if the experience of unveiling a present is important to you? Try dropping 😉hints to the recipients to make it interesting, or use reusable alternatives such as fabric scraps. These can be wrapped & decorated with lovely natural ornaments that make your gifts zero waste, super chic and cost effective!

Alternatively, brown paper works well for wrapping presents especially if you would like to give your gifts a personal touch. For instance, you can decorate with reusable satin ribbon & natural ornaments, to make the perfect👌eco-friendly present. Check out Pinterest wrapping ideas for inspiration.

Tip4-> Digital gifts

Another way to keep your gifts sustainable is to give individual digital gifts such as, Amazon kindle ebooks, Amazon music unlimited, or Netflix subscription! Many people view these as luxuries, making this the perfect zero waste gift😍.

🌱SUSTAINABLE DISPOSABLES

Tip 5-> Compostable disposables

Are you feeding a 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦crowd this Christmas, and could use the extra crockery? Plastic disposables present an easy solution and a saving on time , effort & money. However, many of these single use plastic items are non-recyclable and end up going straight to landfill.

Instead, choose compostables like bagasse (sugarcane fibres) which have more perks in comparison to plastic. Apart from being home compostable within 90 days along with our food waste, bagasse products are microwave safe, incase you feel like 🍖left overs. Visit our food service section to find the eco-friendly disposables you need. We have a wide variety of    bagasse  plates, cold & hot cups, cutlery and containers, that are top-notch in terms of quality, performance and design .

Watch out for plastic options labelled as “biodegradable” these often disintegrate into micro plastics that leave toxicity in the soil. All compostable products are biodegradable because they are plant based, so you need not worry about any toxity leaching into microwaved left overs or into the soil when discarded.

🌱SUSTAINABLE CHRISTMAS CRACKERS

Tip 6-> Plastic free Christmas crackers

There is nothing like plastic free reusable crackers to start the festivities with a sustainable bang . This year, try DIY reusable crackers which can be filled with zero-waste items year and after year! Natural linen fabrics work well, simply choose the design you like, or decorate with satin thread embroidery, then add an eco-friendly cardboard inner tube to secure the gifts and shape the crackers. Finally, tie the ends with satin 🎀ribbon.

Alternatively, you can choose crackers made from eco-friendly cardboard instead of plastic to dress your Christmas dinner table. You can even make them yourself just make sure you fill them with zero-waste items your recipients will love😍.

Tis a season to be conscious🌱

Thank you for reading😍