How can you have a sustainable Christmas?
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Christmas brings joy and warmth into our lives in the depths of December, but it can also produce a huge amount of waste, from landfilled wrapping paper and plastic decorations to unwanted presents and mountains of uneaten food.
It doesn't have to be this way though. Choose the right tree, the right wrapping paper and the right Christmas dinner cooked with green energy, and you can celebrate sustainably without sacrificing tradition or the planet. Here’s our guide to your most sustainable Christmas yet.
The Christmas tree debate: real or fake?
Let's start with what’s probably the quintessential symbol of Christmas – the Christmas tree.
We all know that the most sustainable option is no tree at all. But where's the fun in that! So, what will it be? A natural cut tree? A potted tree? Should we even consider an artificial tree?
Most artificial trees are made from plastic and metal, and the vast majority are shipped from overseas. This all adds up to a sizeable carbon footprint – in fact, according to the Soil Association, you’d need to use an artificial tree at least 10 times to match that of using a real tree each year. The problem is that most artificial trees are dropped into landfill after just four uses, so this isn’t a great option.
The best option is a real, live tree in a pot that you can rent or bring in from the garden each year. If you don’t have the outside space for this, a cut real tree grown locally is the next best thing – as long as you have it collected for chipping or mulching when you’re done with it. Any trees stuck in landfill left to rot in landfill will release methane, which is particularly bad for the climate.
It's time to wrap your presents
The excitement of tearing open gifts creates a shocking amount of waste. In Britain, we dump nearly four million tonnes of wrapping paper into landfill every Christmas.
A big part of the problem is that a lot of wrapping paper isn't recyclable. Anything with a shiny, plastic lamination, metallic coating or glitter is considered a contaminant in the paper recycling stream because these non-paper elements cannot be separated from the wood fibres. Plastic of ribbons and sparkly twine is just as bad.
Luckily, there are lots of ways you can avoid contributing to the massive increase in wrapping landfill every Yuletide. From no wrapping at all or using old newspapers, to brown paper decorated with twine or raffia, there are lots of ways to make things greener while being special. Don’t miss the Japanese tradition of using Furoshikifor inspiration on using reusable fabric scarves.
Going green for your Christmas feast
No, we’re not talking about Brussel sprouts! Christmas dinner is the most environmentally impactful meal of the year, with an estimated five million puddings, two million turkeys and 74 million mince pies binned as a result of the holiday.
The animal farming industry is a massive contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, which is why a vegan Christmas dinner has less than half the emissions of a traditional meat dinner.
But you can make meat-based Christmas dinners better for the environment – and your health – by going heavy on the veggies and having less meat and dairy. It also means there’ll be less to throw away at the end of the day.
Want to do your bit for the planet in other ways?
Why not switch to Ecotricity and we’ll use your bill money to build new sources of renewable energy and build a greener Britain.
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