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Christmas and all its joyous celebrations are coming. This is a good time to have dinner and give gifts with family and friends. But this is also a period often marked by surplus.
I don’t want to be a Christmas miser, but let’s take a look at some thought-provoking Australian Christmas trash statistics: 150,000 kilometers of wrapping paper is used to wrap gifts, and 25% of all food purchased on Christmas is discarded in landfills , Receiving 20 million unwanted gifts each year, charity shops spend millions of dollars to dispose of unwanted Christmas gifts discarded in their shops, and more than 65% of Australians report feeling some financial pressure
Is there another way to celebrate without spending money? Can we celebrate Christmas sustainably? Sustainability is about using only the resources you need and leaving enough resources for future generations. If this sounds like a worthy wish, then here is the ultimate guide to celebrating a sustainable Christmas.
Camille showed on Instagram how she reduced landfills every week, thus accumulating a loyal following.
Shop from small and sustainable businesses. Canberra has many amazing small businesses that produce beautiful gifts. This is a great way to support your local community, this year, in all years, they will love your support. Some of my favorites include nurseries such as Bison, Purepod Studio, Bellchambers or Cool Climate Natives Nursery, The Arboretum or other cultural institutions.
Buy from the Bush is an excellent website that showcases excellent small businesses from all over Australia. It supports rural businesses affected by drought, fire, flood, and of course COVID.
Experience is a great way to avoid landfills and encourage people to do things they might not do. Here are some ways to help you get started:
Buy second-hand or antiques. Not everything needs to be brand new in the original packaging in the store. Canberra has many amazing shops selling beloved goods. Here is a list of the most popular stores in HerCanberra. If you want to give away clothes, shoes or accessories as gifts in the market, Braden’s new Goodbyes store can meet your needs.
Goodbyes sells beloved designer clothing on Lonsdale Street in Braddon.
Donate gifts to those who have everything—provide clean water for a village in Africa, and provide a goat for a village—there are many innovative ways. You can change the world of our global community by supporting another person. One side, and have some fun from it. First check out Oxfam’s series of interesting gift cards.
Give it to handmade or planted. Before you roll your eyes, listen to me! The gift of cultivating yourself is easy and fun. This year, I planted some local geraniums from seeds, reproduced various geraniums, potted them-decorated with Christmas ribbons, and gave them as small gifts to a group of my close friends. Simple and effective.
For those who are cunning or have cunning children, why not try to make at least part of the gift. A friend of mine put a hand-woven dish cloth in a bag made of old bed sheets. Thoughtful and gorgeous, something I will use again and again!
Finally, here are some ideas for family gatherings.
For larger family Christmas parties, try Kris Kringle's version: the end result is that you only give and receive one gift. There are many variations, but in essence, choose a price limit, assign givers and receivers (some apps can do this for you-of course!). The ultimate goal is to give a gift that one person really wants, not multiple gifts that the giver might find lukewarm. You can do this by including gift suggestions for gifts you might like in the price range, or even a link to what you want (if you are really cheeky)!
So now that you have chosen a sustainable gift, you need to package it beautifully so that you can prepare for an important day under the tree! Our main goal here is to avoid a large amount of wrapping paper and paper gift bags, which will be temporarily used and then sent to the landfill the next day. There must be a better way! have!
Camille's sustainable Christmas tree comes from Boorowa's Brae Neuk Pallet furniture.
Use what you already have: The first thing to do is to use up your existing gift bags and wrapping paper, whether it's on a roll or keep it carefully in the past few years.
Make or buy material bags or wraps: These are indeed becoming more and more popular, and there are many available for purchase. But for anyone who owns a sewing machine, these are easy to make yourself. You don't even need a pattern-just be able to cut it straight (ish).
For several years, we have been making "custom-sized" bags (we stand around a pile of gifts, then cleverly place strips of material on top of them to adjust their size, then we cut and sew-voila!) I The point is that it is easy to do, I am not cunning, I assure you, but I have a sewing machine.
Now we have become more complicated and add some styles of packaging through color or printing themes! They look beautiful under the tree, and the packaging becomes part of the gift itself. Some recipients ask them to wrap the gifts next year (this is the goal), and some recipients return them to us on the spot-which means that our workload will be reduced next year! !
Wrapping (basically square fabric) or furoshiki is a Japanese way of wrapping gifts-there are many ways you can wrap gifts in furoshiki.
If you don’t want to sew materials, you don’t even have to sew materials, you just need to choose a piece of fabric you like, cut it to the right size and fasten it with a ribbon-equally effective.
Many stores now provide paper bags for you to buy. Many of them are simple, and brighten them with ribbons around the handles, and look just as good under the tree. Honestly, does your dad really mind if his socks, books, and tools are not wrapped in embossed wrapping paper? Even better, once they are used, you can tear open the bag and enter your compost bin together with your Christmas food scraps-speaking of this...
Everyone likes Christmas feasts, but consider how much people can reasonably eat in a day and make sure you plan to use leftovers.
Food is an important part of Christmas, and several key steps need to be followed to reduce unnecessary waste.
Decorating the house and tables does not necessarily mean buying new and expensive (packaged) items.
Try shopping in second-hand stores and antique stores. At this time of year, DOSE, Dirty Janes and charity shops are filled with Christmas decorations and tableware. I bought a few glasses of beautiful berry red Emile Henry to serve dishes at The Green Shed in the city-they looked perfect on the table on Christmas Day.
Christmas is the best time to decorate cleverly, rather than decorate the hall with more plastic materials.
It is very easy to make your own tablecloths, tablecloths and napkins for your Christmas table. Just choose from the exquisite fabrics provided by the sewing shop, plus a few straight hem, and you can have a new holiday tablecloth every year that is sustainable.
Tip: After you use your homemade tablecloths for next year’s Christmas gift bags, you can cut them off at any time.
And may save the best for the last, fashion! Instead of buying a new collection of clothing for your holiday outing, try picking some clothing from the growing number of second-hand clothing stores in Canberra. If you really feel that you need something new, why not try to buy small local products.
With some planning, thinking, and enthusiasm, being kinder to the planet (and ourselves), you can also create a more sustainable Christmas. Even just using one of the above suggestions will help.
I hope you can celebrate Christmas in a sustainable way this year.
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