Christmas is here and it’s important to enjoy the time spent with your family and make the most of those magical few days off, sitting by the TV with enough chocolate to sink a ship! Not to mention there is nothing better then seeing people’s eyes light up when you get them a gift they love. Amongst all this excitement we can also be looking at ways to have an eco-friendly and Merry Christmas all wrapped up into one.
Santa might only come to town once a year, but that doesn’t mean that everything needs to only stick around for the day.
Eco-Friendly Presents
Recycle or Reuse! We aren’t saying recycle your gifts, at least not as soon as you get them! What we mean is that you should look into what you can save from your the decorations of your gifts. I am renowned in my family for saving all my present toppers, including the curled ribbon. It both saves money and means that I can make my gifts look extra special too.
Whilst paper can be harder to save, especially if you have kids, tissue paper is an easy one. Even if it’s ribbed it can be added to a present bag to pad out the space. If it’s not ribbed and creased it’s still great to use for bottles of alcohol!
Re-wear Your Outfits
If you are the type to treat yourself whist Christmas shopping for others why not make sure it’s not on a new Christmas Day outfit yet again… Here at Preloved we love a re-worn outfit. Make it feel like something new by changing the look slightly. An eco-friendly Christmas doesn’t always have to be about making dramatic changes to your day but sometimes the run up.
If you do get dressed up on Christmas Day why not consider wearing one of your favourite outfits again. Socks and slippers with your smarter outfit are still mandatory.
Sell Your Old Christmas PJ’s
An easy way to be eco-friendly is to sell your old Christmas Pyjamas. Some people only wear theirs for one day a year, others over a few years. In total that’s still only about 5 times a year, maximum! Knowing that why wouldn’t you sell these PJ’s. They’ll still be in a great condition and can add to someone else’s Christmas PJ collection.
With our new membership tier BOOST live on Preloved, why not spend as little as £2 a month to buy and sell with us! Not to mention you can cancel your membership as soon as you are done buying and selling! So upgrade your membership now and get decluttering and being more eco-friendly this Christmas.
Cook Smart – Waste Less
Whether you are cooking for 3 or 12 you can still make sure that you are planning efficiently so you have as little waste as possible. Some people do pot luck where everyone brings something but most do the full spread and share it out. Which ever you choose you want to make sure you are taking these few things into account:
- Are you hosting the next day? If yes, then you want to ensure there is more than necessary so you have left overs for boxing day;
- Does everyone like everything? If they don’t then go smaller on those items, in order to not have so much left over;
- Invest in some tinfoil, that way if people can’t stay or there is more than you anticipated you can share it out to everyone in a doggy bag!
Get Out Into Nature
Getting out into nature during the Christmas period isn’t only good for the environment as we are using less energy in the house. It is also good for your health and fitness. Now that’s not to say you have to be rid of the Christmas PJs on Christmas Day, but maybe a trip to your local park or forest on boxing day would be nice! We usually do a New Years Day walk but have been trying to incorporate a boxing day walk to ease into our jeans on the 27th!
Why It’s Important
We don’t want to put a dampener on Christmas by sharing stats, but in short Christmas can result in a lot of rubbish heading to the landfill. By implementing the small changes or habits we’ve mentioned above you can really make a difference. At the end of the day we just need to conscious of what we are doing and see if we can make any small efforts in making a big impact long term. Lets not forget that the true meaning of Christmas is a time for thinking of others. So why not do that on a global scale!