It’s that time of the year again. The time to be with our loved ones, eat our own weight in delicious food and spend our yearly income in material things to show our love. Only this year, make it eco-friendly.
I have been trying this past year to be more conscious of my habits and making small steps in the right direction, but when it comes to Christmas I am finding it extra tricky. I still want to gift my family things they will love, and feel bad for putting my “hippy habits” on them. So in case you are in the same boat as me, these are some of the things I am trying to do this year to make my Christmas a bit less bad for our planet.
1. Buying things second hand
This is my favourite way of being more sustainable when shopping for myself, because, well, I still get to buy things plus, they are cheaper! So why wouldn’t I buy my Christmas decorations second hand? I got some lovely wood hand-painted ornaments for my tree this year.
However, it can be a bit tricky when gifting, because unfortunately some people still see second hand as “used” or “dirty” and not something you should give as a present.
The exception, I think, is when the thing you are gifting second hand cannot be bought new anymore. If it’s something vintage, a film camera, vinyls… Other than that it of course depends on the person. I am gifting second hand things only to the people who I know wouldn’t mind it, or might even like it like my mother and my brother, but sticking to new purchases for those in my family that I know are a bit more… picky.
2. Gifting more experiences
Gifting experiences is a great way to make sure you buy something that the person never really uses and ends up throwing away in a couple of years. My biggest problem with them is making sure they are a personal gift (I don’t love the idea of a voucher for the cinema, or one of those experience packs), but also planning them properly.
I have thought so many times about buying someone a weekend trip to a near-by city or concert tickets… and have decided not to in the last minute because I wasn’t sure if they would be available on those dates. This is why I choose this kind of presents only for the people that are closest to me, like my boyfriend or my mum: when I know their schedule well enough that I can buy something that is perfect just for them.
But not all experiences have to be as big as a trip. This year I made an advents calendar for my boyfriend full of small experiences like
- Watching a Christmas movie together
- Going to a Christmas market
- Buying him a cup of mulled wine
- Giving him a massage
- Tickets to the cinema
- A reservation for a nice restaurant
3. Handmade gifts and decorations
Making things yourself can be good for the environment if you are wise about buying your materials, it gives you control over them and allows you to buy only recycled paper, organic cotton… you get the idea. When looking for supplies for my Christmas Cards so many of the papers, pens etc where wrapped in layers and layers of plastic. I tried to stay away from those, and buy paper that you could buy on its own, recycle old papers from the Christmas before and so on… and yet I cannot say for sure if it was more sustainable than the alternative.
For the macrame I am sure. A few friends and I got together and bought the supplies in bulk, making sure packaging was reduced to the minimum. And not only that, but it ended up costing 10 euro for two plant hangers: way cheaper than it would be in the store.
Other things that we have made ourselves in my family in the past are: jars of jam, ceramic ornaments for the tree (like the green star you can see in the picture), mixed tapes, photo albums, art for the walls…
4. Wrapping in recycled or biodegradable materials
So if I am being honest, I haven’t wrapped my Christmas presents just yet, because I haven’t even gotten all of them yet. But my plan this year is to wrap them in newspapers. Unfortunately we get so much paper in our mail box every day, that no one picks up and goes to the trash every night… So I have been collecting some newspapers and I will decorate them with some organic materials like leaves from outside or cotton string to make them a bit nicer.
I am a bit afraid that it might transfer, so I will have to keep you posted on that, but honestly, I am not a huge fan of the wrapping in fabric idea (I fear some people will also throw that away), and this is what is easily accesible to me. If you are lucky to be close to nicer looking trash, then, be my guest!
5. Be mindful of your party outfits
Realistically, how many party outfits can a normal person need? 4? 5? Probably not even that. Every time a big occasion approaches I get the need to buy a completely new outfit for it. I did it for my prom, my graduation, my aunts wedding, my first two company parties, more new year’s eves that I can count… And I say… NO MORE. I never wore those dresses again, and now they sit in my closet gathering dust. This year I am trying to rewear my old party outfits or borrow some that are gathering dust in my friend’s closets. It is hard to resist the temptation, but right after that “big occasion” I am so grateful I didn’t cave.
And that’s it! Those are my tips and my struggles. How are you preparing for this Christmas’ Are you trying to be more sustainable? Or are you letting yourself go fully crazy? Let me know!
Isabel's Stories 
i just had this conversation with my bf yesterday about people/families who enjoy decorating during christmas. both of us are asians who live in an asian country and… let’s just say we don’t really celebrate christmas at all. i mean by religion, we do commemorate it but like…we don’t do christmas shopping, buy decors and all that unlike in the western culture if you know what i mean. we had this discussion about why western culture (tradition?) loves to decorate their spaces during christmas — it’s something we fail to relate because i feel like for asian families, our family/parentals would say things like “it’s such a waste to buy those decors!” or “where are we gonna place them? they’re too space consuming!” the differentiation in mindset is just very interesting to us and for some reason we both love seeing westerners decorate their spaces haha
i guess my point is… despite not being able to relate, i’m always amazed at western families who take so much effort to celebrate christmas. y’all have that cozy christmas vibe every year and it’s very interesting to me. ngl, sometimes i wanna know it feels too but yeah, it’s just not something we asian families do (even if some of us do that, it’s pretty rare) i remember wanting to buy a small fake christmas tree even though i don’t celebrate it and my parents said no because it’d be such a waste it’s even BETTER when you’re shopping for christmas decors while also be environ
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This is such a great post, but also so lovely for you to mention that you’re struggling too. I know I am! It feels like as hard as you try during the year to be a bit more environmentally conscious and sustainable, Christmas tends to come a long and throw a spanner in the works.
My family and I aren’t in any way as extravagant or out there as others when it comes to celebrating Christmas, but over the years we’ve made some changes that I think have really helped us narrow down how much we consume and buy during the season. Christmas Day used to consist of all of my many younger cousins literally spending hours opening all their presents because my family is so large, but the amount of gifts and wrapping paper and things that were being bought became kind of … sickening?? Idk, but now we instead give each kid $10 from each family, and because we have quite a large extended family, they get quite a bit of money, which I think is far better than toys or clothes they grow out of you know? Plus I’ve got everyone wrapping any other gifts with newspaper as well!! I was shocked when I found out wrapped paper isn’t recyclable, so luckily newspaper is such an easily and readily available alternative! Like I said, great post – I haven’t seen many posts concerning the sustainability and environmental impact Christmas has at all, so this was super refreshing 🙂 x
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You absolutely had me at “hippy habits”! I feel this exact same way — I always to try be more earth friendly and sustainable around the holidays. Not to mention the rest of the year. So many of my family and friends think I am being some kind of super hippy… but in reality I am just trying to be better to our environment. These are such great tips! I love the idea of using newspaper as wrapping paper. Not to mention, making your own decor. One thing I am really going to try to do next year is to only shop locally and handmade for presents. Key word on TRY, ha ha!
Merry Christmas ♥
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I love that you’re trying and you’re still able to talk about your shortcomings. Too bad people see secondhand as used, hopefully with time it will change, and we will see it more as a treasure 🙂
Sustainably wise, ”You’re doing great sweetheart” !!
http://www.desiringsme.com/6-winter-feelings-i-had-missed/
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I had a realisation on Christmas morning about how materialistic this holiday is and how much I hate that part of it. Christmas nowadays is different from the Christmas I had when I was a child. Gifts feel less personal, and more on the “this-will-do” side.
I found myself not wrapping the two gifts I gave this year. The element of surprise might be gone, but at least I know I didn’t waste Christmas wrappers or tags this year.
smudgeness
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Yes, I was also contemplating not wrapping them, but I am a sucker for seeing the faces of people when they unwrap a present haha, maybe next year? ❤
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Great important post, where you make the main focus, really makes me happy for its necessary of importance.
After all it is a great article with everything. Thanks in advance for posting it
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It does get hard sometimes, but at least you’re trying and that’s what counts! I love the idea of the personalised advent calendar. I might do it as a gift idea!
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