An Eco-Friendly Christmas

Holiday Pollution and How to Reduce

Image Source: How to have a sustainable Christmas advice from the fashion elite (townandcountrymag.com) — *Image Source:* *How to have a sustainable Christmas advice from the fashion elite (townandcountrymag.com)*

It’s estimated that the amount of trash Canadians throw out increases by at least 25% over the holiday season, largely because people are buying more! Plenty of holiday wrapping, bows, and decorations are made of metallic materials that are not recyclable. In addition, during the holidays- especially this year, with the pandemic- online shopping increases exponentially. An increase in shopping leads to an increase in waste, especially with many items including extra packing like boxes, Styrofoam, bubble wrap and tape.

Plenty of holiday items are decorated with glitter, tinsel, and sequins, such as wrapping paper and bags, to Christmas ornaments and garlands. Likely from personal experience, you know that glitter is really messy- even after you’ve cleaned it up, you will still find random pieces here and there for months. These sparkly items end up in landfills as it’s impossible to remove every metallic piece so they can not be recycled properly. Glitter is harmful to marine life, as it is a microplastic that often makes its way into the environment and is easily carried by water. Organizations state that live Christmas trees cannot be put in the compost if they contain any tinsel or glitter.

“Zero Waste Canada says 540,000 tons of wrapping paper and gifts bags are thrown out by Canadians every year over the Christmas season.”

— https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/eco-friendly-gift-giver-1.4952915

Image Source: https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/columnist/2019/12/25/how-reduce-christmas-waste/2715173001/ — *Image Source:* *https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/columnist/2019/12/25/how-reduce-christmas-waste/2715173001/*

So, how can you reduce over the holidays?

Decorations

Upcycle old decorations by changing things up- add some extra flare with new accessories like adding pinecones and flowers to an old wreath or garland!
DIY Christmas crafts can be a fun activity during the holidays! Try making some homemade ornaments like dried orange, salt clay, or pinecone ornaments, or decorate with a handmade garlands or wreaths!
Buy your decorations second-hand or go thrifting!

Wrapping

Avoid products with glitter!
Think sustainably and use recyclable brown paper, newspaper, comics, or fabric to wrap your gifts!
Use fabric, rope, or ribbons to tie and decorate your gifts, and collect them at the end to reuse the next year
Drop the dollar store holiday bags and use reusable ones instead (a fun reusable bag makes a fun, eco-friendly gift too)!
Reuse a cardboard box from your holiday purchases to pack your gifts!
Use a basket, bowl or keep sake box as a container for a gift

*Image Source: https://zerowastememoirs.com/eco-friendly-christmas-tree/*

Gifts

Vintage/second hand- During the holidays, people purchase a lot of new items and often get rid of the older items they no longer need. Check out local thrift shops, Kijiji, Facebook Marketplace, Etsy, etc. to find some unique, second-hand gifts. This is a great way to be eco-friendly as it prevents more items from ending up in landfills!
Experience gifts can be great since instead of getting an item someone might not use, you can give them lovely memories! This can be tickets to an event, gift certificates, a dinner out, etc.
Homemade gifts are sustainable, plus they are also so much more personal! This can vary, whether you’re an artist, can knit, bake, or have a green thumb- there are lots of fun gifts you can create for your loved ones!
Buy locally! There are lots of small, local businesses that are struggling with the pandemic. Support small businesses and buy your gift from a local shop, which also reduces pollution related to large scale production and shipping!
With COVID still being such a threat, pandemic gifts are great for anyone in your life! No one can have enough masks, face covering, or sanitizers!

Christmas trees
There are plenty of environmental pros and cons to both real and fake Christmas trees- so why not have a living tree?

You can purchase small potted pine trees around the holidays, and these are a great alternative to traditional options. You can decorate it and enjoy it over the holidays, then plant it after the season is over. This gives you an opportunity to create a new habitat for wildlife on your property, and it will always remind you of all of your lovely Christmas memories!
Norfolk pines are lovely, tropical plants that can be kept in your home throughout the year, looks just like a Christmas tree! Some people even decorate cacti or other house plants they have!