For example, instead of a ribbon, use compostable twine or string with a cutting—a sprig of holly, a clipping of eucalyptus, or the branch of a fir—tucked into it. It’s a rustic look that will hold up even if you wrap things well in advance. Alternatively, slip in something less hardy, like flowers or berries, just before you dish out the gifts.
Don’t Forget Tape!
The last thing you want to do is to make all these adjustments and ruin it by using standard plastic tape that can’t be recycled. Sellotape now offers a plastic-free version of its famous tape, which is 100 percent plant-based and fully compostable. Alternatively, consider paper-based options like washi tape. These often come in pretty patterns too, which can also help to jazz up plainer brown paper.
Send Fewer Cards—or Go Digital
If you’ve got a family that’s big on holiday cards, this can be a hard habit to break, but there are around 2.65 billion Christmas cards sold every year in the US, and sending one card less each would save 50,000 cubic yards of paper, according to Stanford University.
It helps that there are now fantastic digital options that can be sent to friends and family via email, eliminating waste entirely—and can be sent at the last minute when it’s too late to mail anything. Make the extra effort to discuss in advance with your loved ones about all of you going down the digital route for a greater environmental win.
If you can’t bear to upset family tradition, then just be sure to choose your cards as carefully as you choose your wrapping paper. Avoid glitter and foil, and look for cards that are labelled as recyclable. Even better—look out those that have been made from postconsumer recycled materials too. You can even buy cards that are embedded with seeds and can be planted!
Of course you only have control over the cards that you send out. If you receive some cards that aren’t recyclable, consider holding on to them and cutting them up to reuse the parts with holiday symbols as gift labels for next year.
Choose a Real Christmas Tree, if You Have One
It might seem counterintuitive, but even though real trees are only used once before you toss them, they create less waste than their artificial counterparts. That’s because a real tree can be completely recycled if disposed of correctly, and can be used for things like firewood, wood chippings, or compost.
Fake trees, on the other hand, are made of materials that can’t be recycled and are only heading to landfill once their time spreading Christmas joy is over. The Carbon Trust estimates you’d need to reuse an artificial tree between seven and 20 times (size dependent) to offset the carbon footprint generated by its manufacturing, packaging, and shipping. When you buy that real tree (if you haven’t already) be sure to buy something grown locally, which is the more sustainable choice since it doesn’t have to be shipped as far.
Go DIY on Decorations
When decorating your tree and your home, the same rules apply. Plastic and foil are no-nos, and getting creative is the best way to cut waste. For great DIY ideas, I will send you to YouTube, which is filled with DIY holiday decoration tutorials: paper garlands, hanging paper dreidels, salt dough ornaments, a DIY Kwanzaa kinara, and scores more. These decorations might not stand the test of time in storage, but they will be completely recyclable and compostable once the holidays end, meaning you can consciously switch up your color theme each year.
Store-bought holiday crackers—cardboard tubes that you pull on from both ends to pop open—should be avoided. They traditionally use shiny and glittery materials, which, just like with cards and wrapping paper, makes them non-recyclable. And that’s before you consider the terrible, often plastic gift inside that will usually find its way to the bin almost immediately.