Christmas might be a time for family, celebrations and having fun - but it also brings a flurry of food, presents, gift wrapping and things you don't normally buy or need not mention the Christmas tree many chuck out come January.
We're not going to tell you not to celebrate in style or turn gifts away at the door for fear of the waste created - but there are a bunch of easy wins on the waste-reduction front with a little bit of thought ahead of time.
We've all had the markers, cotton wool and left over boxes out at some stage in either school or home to make our very own Christmas decorations as kids - and let's face it, they are always the tree decorations we look for each year for the memories they bring back. Even if you've no kids, what's stopping you from putting together your own decorations, painting the windows from the inside and cobbling together your own wreath - you'll feel so much more accomplished when you finish them.
Those of you who are great cooks could also turn heads with some great edible gifts rustled up at home and presented in leftover jars we all have.
Buy what you can without packaging waste whether it’s food, pressies or plastic bags and bring your own for packing it all up
This is a no-brainer that stands all year round. It's not hard to turn your back on plastic covered produce in the supermarket now - more and more of them offer loose fruit and veg and are turning more to plastic-free packaging because of continued public pressure.
Just don't let your guard down because it's Christmas. Keep on doing what you're doing and someday soon we may have the plastic-free supermarkets many hope for.
Wrapping gifts up nicely with ribbons and bows is part of the ceremony of gift giving, as much as we enjoy tearing it all apart when we receive a gift ourselves! However, much of the wrapping paper we use is not recyclable, due to glitter, ribbons and plastics in the paper.
To reduce the amount of wrapping paper that we currently send to landfill, you could use biodegradable paper to wrap your presents. Most brown paper is recyclable and compostable, and as it is unbleached it undergoes minimal chemical treatments during production. You could also get creative with packaging by using newspapers or magazines, or reusing wrapping paper and gift bags you already have. These will look great under the tree and help you reduce waste this Christmas!
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