How to have a more sustainable Christmas
The festive season is all about celebrating the good times of the past year and spending quality time with friends and family. Often the holiday cheer can pose a few challenges; we want to help anyone aspiring to have a low-impact Christmas to navigate the minefield of bonbons and single-use plastic without abandoning their values or upsetting loved ones. Don’t worry; Christmas doesn’t need to be canceled and you don’t need to be a Grinch. If you’re filled with dread by the thought of all the plastic decorations, excessive wrapping, and gifts that end up at the op shop on January 1st, then we have something for you.
You’ll love our tips for having a low-impact festive season and sustainable gifting guide. It’s possible to have a low-waste, more sustainable Christmas.
GIFTING
A survey by the Australian Institute found Australians wasted $980 million on unwanted Christmas gifts last year, many of which were discarded and likely ended up in landfill. This figure is incredibly disturbing, especially when you think of all the gift wrapping, decorations and single-use plastic that went along with it.
We get it: gifts can be tricky!
We see value in buying a sustainable gift that someone wants or needs, but also value in buying experiences because often someone doesn’t want or need anything. Our most important takeaway is to have conversations and find out for sure before investing in anything.
When it comes to gift giving, we love the Kris Kringle scheme. Each individual has a family member (or chosen family member) to buy for, with a capped budget. It means we have more time and more money to buy or create something thoughtful.
BETTER GIFT IDEAS
Gift giving can be a beautiful thing and there’s a lot more opportunity now to buy consciously. If you are going to give a gift this Christmas, do so responsibly and take a look at our list of better gift ideas.
Z E R O - W A S T E P R O D U C T S
Combine a thoughtful gift with responsible living by avoiding unnecessary waste and gifting something sustainable and eco-friendly.
Zero-waste products: Beeswax wraps, reusable produce bags, glass and ceramic reusable containers, stainless steel water bottle, keepcups, handmade soap bars, shampoo bars, conditioner bars all of which you can find at Ecolateral Stores.
E B O O K S
We love the convenience of ebooks and the fact that they save on printing resources. Recipe ebooks, nonfiction or fiction ebooks. A subscription to Kindle. Try one of our ebooks like The Bare Kitchen, Get Bare of the Summer Smoothie Shake Up.
V O U C H E R S + E X P E R I E N C E S
Give someone the opportunity to try something new or the thrill of stepping out of their comfort zone. Online vouchers for sustainable and ethical stores, restaurants and cafes, massage or spa treatments, experiences or tickets, e.g. adventure parks, bunjee jumping, concert tickets or a night away, or a pamper session at their favourite salon.
Our top picks!
Brother Bear Cafe is our go-to healthy cafe + they sell some amazing locally made gifts
Hollick Coonawarra voucher for dinner with panoramic views across the Coonawarra vineyards.
Treat a loved one to a pamper sesh at The Chapel Aldgate
C L A S S E S + M E M B E R S H I P S
This is a gift a loved one will get continued benefit and appreciation from instead of the short-term excitement of material goods.
Yoga studio sessions, pilates classes, gym membership, gin & vodka making classes, ceramics lessons, photography lessons, art classes, zoo, art gallery or museum memberships,
Our top picks!
See Someone Studio offers amazing clay and candle-making workshops!
Phoebe Hunter offers botanical dying workshops.
From The Wild offers delicious raw, vegan cake making workshops!
H A N D M A D E F O O D S
· Granola
· Pickles, preserves and ferments — sauerkraut, kimchi, pickled onions, pickled cucumber, pickled tomatoes, preserved lemons
· Sauces — tomato sauce, chutney, Worcestershire sauce
· Infused oils
· Infused alcohol (strawberry vodka, spiced cherry gin)
· Jams and preserves
· Sweets and baked goodies
· Spice and herb blends
· Dried tea or chai blends
This is a great opportunity to repurpose jars and bottles.
T H E G I F T O F W E L L N E S S
Gaia Botanica products are handcrafted in South Australia using the highest quality, ethically sourced, certified organic ingredients. We have developed our range to become a part of your lifestyle, inspiring you to savour the quiet moments, nourish your health and practice self-care.
Gaia Botanica has two collections of organic loose leaf teas. The Wellness Collection has Dream (for sweet dreams), Radiance (for glowing skin), Focus (for energy and mental clarity) and Balance (for hormone and liver support). They also have a classic collection including Kashmiri Chai, English Breakfast, French Earl Grey and Green tea.
G I V E T H E G I F T O F A N O U R I S H E D P O O C H
Doggy Grub is our top pick for nourishing your doggo! They are Australian Made and owned and made in Australia from local ingredients. They’ve developed formulas that follows balanced and healthy guidelines, with no fillers, no by-products and no preservatives! Only 100% fresh and human-grade ingredients!
They also have a Christmas box which we absolutely adore!
P L A N T S + S E E D S
House plants, herb gardens, fruit trees, fresh or dried flower bouquets. This is not only good for our planet but has an added benefit to your health as well.
We love See Someone Studio and The Diggers Club for all our planty needs!
H O M E M A D E P E R S O N A L C A R E P R O D U C T S
Body scrub, bath salts, face masks, bath bombs. Most of the ingredients to make these products can be found at bulk food stores and can even use herbs and flowers from your garden to add a natural fragrance.
E M B R A C E Y O U R C R E A T I V E S I D E W I T H A R T , C R A F T S & D I Y
If you have the resources, use what you already have at home, e.g. mix-matched wool knitted blanket or crocheted coasters. Some of our favourites are painted or drawn artwork, hand moulding or wheel spun pottery, knitting and crochet and building and carpentry.
R E P U R P O S E D + T H R I F T E D
·
Shop at vintage and secondhand stores
· Secondhand bookstores
· Re-gift something you have received if you think it may be better appreciated by someone else.
· Often things found at secondhand and vintage stores are of equal quality or better
and it may give you an opportunity to spend less.
GIFT WRAPPING
Gift wrapping contributes hugely to Christmas waste. Australia is estimated to use 150,000km of wrapping paper over the festive season—this amount could be used to wrap the world in paper four times!
Isn’t wrapping paper recyclable?
Gift wrap made from 100% paper can be recycled but if there’s sticky tape, cellophane, metallic foil or glitter detail, it will end up in landfill. If you receive a gift in wrapping paper, unwrap it gently to save the paper for future gifts.
WRAPPING ALTERNATIVE
· Last year’s gift bags/wrapping paper
· Furushiki (Japanese cloth wrapping)
· Newspaper, brown paper
· Repurposed kids art and drawings
· Don’t wrap it
CARDS
Ecards are a great option as they don’t require any physical resource and are easy to distribute. Cards can be made using recycled and repurposed materials. Keep any card you receive; you can make them into gift tags or repurpose them next Christmas.
If you want to make your own card, we recommend starting with
recycled or repurposed cardboard or paper then:
· Collage with last year's Christmas cards, wrapping paper or newspaper
· Paint or print with potato stamps
· Make natural watercolor paints with beetroot and turmeric
· Use cotton thread to sew on pressed flowers or dried leaves
Phoebe Hunter makes cards with a selection of Australian native flowers hand-stitched with cotton onto recycled card.
CHRISTMAS TREE
Our ideal Christmas tree is one that is alive and in a pot which can be used every year! It doesn’t need to be a pine— just something that thrives in the climate where you live.
We also love a DIY tree made from fallen branches and twine or repurposed timber. Our next preference is, a real Christmas tree because at least it was creating oxygen before it was cut and it can be saved for firewood, broken into pieces and disposed of in the green bin or turned into mulch.
Plastic trees aren’t ideal; they might be reusable but they’re often made from plastics and metals that can’t be recycled. Once they’re broken or old they’ll end up in landfill.
LIGHTING
Our preferred form of lighting is beeswax or soy wax candles, offering a more natural alternative and warm Christmassy glow. Solar lights are a good option for decorative lighting. Otherwise, LED lights use about 80-90% less energy. Turn your lights off when you’re asleep or out of the house.
E-waste can contain toxic materials that don’t belong in your bin—so when they eventually stop working, dispose of them responsibly.
DECORATIONS
If you’re going to buy decorations, invest in good quality, sustainably and ethically made ones that can be passed onto future generations.
Try secondhand stores and borrow where you can. Remember, nature is beautiful—choose foraged sticks, flowers, leaves, pinecones and gumnuts for biodegradable and local alternatives. Or make your own! Get creative!
DIY DECORATIONS
· Repurpose old Christmas cards
· Use nature-foraged pinecones, gumnuts and seeds pods
· Salt dough ornaments
· Dehydrated citrus rounds
· Origami with repurposed paper
BONBONS
We love playing Tug of War with a Christmas bonbon but we don’t like the tacky jokes, party hats that don’t fit and useless plastic trinkets that go straight into the trash. All this considered, it’s not surprising that commercial varieties are wasteful and environmentally unfriendly.
We recommend making your own: write your own jokes or riddles on scrap paper and add a small gift like homemade Christmas ornaments, gingerbread or a sweet in environmentally friendly packaging.
Use a repurposed toilet roll and wrap with either a cloth napkin for a reusable option (doubles as your serviette later on) or newspaper and tie each end with raffia or twine to secure.
AVOIDING SINGLE USE
If you’re having a party, forget about plastic cups and cutlery and paper plates. Set your tables with reusable stuff that can be used and washed. If you don’t have enough to go around then hire some or ask your guests to bring what they would need.
FOOD
Planning your shopping is essential to limiting food waste—panic buys lead to unsuitable purchases. Be organised and plan ahead what you need for Christmas and the festive season. Shop local and seasonal by visiting your local green grocer or farmers market for the best fresh produce.
MINIMISING FOOD WASTE:
Make things from scratch where possible to avoid excess packaging.
You can minimise kitchen waste by:
· Avoiding individually wrapped foods
· Freezing leftovers
· Storing leftovers in airtight reusable containers
· Buying from bulk stores
· Make things from scratch where possible to avoid excess packaging
Anushka Malcolm
CO-FOUNDER + CLINICAL NUTRITIONIST
Anushka is clinical nutritionist and passionate health foodie from Adelaide, South Australia. Anushka uses up-to-date clinical research and traditional wisdom to you diets so you can nourish yourself, feel your best and thrive.