Making Christmas more eco- friendly

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Table decorations with help from young grandchildren

I have a swedish wooden tree and mostly wooden or felt ornaments. I make my own mince pies, sausage rolls and pigs in blankets and don`t buy rubbish food in boxes and plastic. Presents involve spending no more than £10 per person and believe me that takes some thinking, we usually make things for each other

You can get eco friendly crackers. Just google. Here’s one
www.nancyandbetty.com/blogs/journal/eco-friendly-christmas-crackers

I’m afraid my tree is plastic - and this year will be it’s twelth year. And it’s not looking tatty yet so will last a few more yet. And no needles to hoover up!

DiL has asked that we don’t have crackers so I’m collecting loo roll insides to make my own. No snap though unless someone knows where I can get them? I haven’t told them in case it doesn’t work out.

I like the brown paper idea and will go with that one. We only buy presents for the DGC and have been doing a Secret Santa (in couples now) for the DC for several years now. It works well.

Not sure whats bigger than the destruction of the planet TBH

I don’t mind trying my best to recycle or not buy ecologically bad stuff.
Honestly though, I’m not going to bust a gut over this.
Bigger fish to fry.

I like to use gift bags which are recycled throughout the family. I expect to receive my Christmas present in a bag that I gave a gift in last year!

We have cut back over the last few years and with children getting married and having their own families we started a few new traditions. One is a xmas lucky dip. There’s a little pressie or two wrapped up and labelled with clues for the recipient. It’s up to the children to be detectives and ‘deliver’ the presents. Clues have been colours, letters, anagrams of names and even coded labels depending upon age. Presents are not expensive - one year just socks but all wrapped up separately! Even the toddlers found it funny and enjoyed pairing things up!

I so agree PernillaVanilla. I was about to write something along the same lines as you have stated. I want Christmas to be a time when I can be excessive if I want to. Sometimes we just need to splash out a little.

I do find it hard when I'm full of good cheer, feeling generous and want a house decked with beautiful decorations ready to feast and celebrate to start thinking about cutting back. I don't like plastic things in Christmas Crackers but when a friend of mine advised me to make my own out of old loo rolls and tissue paper (no, not hygienic) it just made me rage. I told her I'd get some Hotel Chocolat ones instead. I really get cross at the suggestion I should turn into a turnip eating Lady Whiteadder during the season of eat-drink and make merry. Making things can be fun, if you have the time but for me this is the one time of year for excess. I think of the peasants of old hunkering in with a good fire, a figgy pudding and lots of mead or whatever it was they drank, for that short time and forgetting the world outside. Oh yes from January I might cut back, eat leftovers, and go into the loose foods and supplies shop, but if anyone gives me a goat or a charity donation on my behalf at Christmas they can get stuffed.

In our family we all swap Christmas lists. There is no guarantee that anyone will get anything or everything on their Christmas list, but it ensures that people do not given things they do not want and there is still all the excitement of opening presents on Christmas day because, despite the list you do not know what items you will get.

Otherwise we do things exactly how witzend describes in her email. My big spend is on top quality food items, Organic free range turkey, organic gammon and, this year, top quality beef for a beef bourginon on New Years day. All that will end in the food bucket is the turkey carcasse after it as been picked clean and simmered for stock.

We will still have a real tree - usually UK grown. They are a crop like any other - it's not like destroying rain forest - and incidentally fast-growing pine/fir trees do use up a lot of carbon dioxide, so I don't see the need to change. Plus I really don't like fake trees - none of that lovely Christmassy smell!

We use the same tree decorations every year - some go back to the 50s. I might buy the odd new bauble occasionally, but that's it. I used to have a neighbour who bought a whole new set in a different colour scheme every year! She once asked me what colour tree we were having that year. 'Er, green?'

I make my own mincemeat in recycled jars, my own mince pies and puddings - same old ceramic basins every year - and just about everything else is cooked from scratch. Just about every scrap of the (free range) turkey is always used up. From all I hear there's an awful lot of food waste at Christmas - but never in this house. Or at any time, come to that.

However I will still buy jolly Christmas wrapping paper, if there's not enough left from last year, though not the glittery or plasticky sort, crackers (cheap ones, we rather like the tat!) and jolly paper napkins - about the only time of year we use them.

I do like the idea of fabric napkins, though - if I can find any festive-enough material I might have a go. I feel a trip to John Lewis coming on!

Well I won’t be buying any presents,
I will make a few chutneys jams etc and give those instead.
I will send home made cards which will be made from odds and ends (recycled to you and me)
Any plastic tat I have was bought 20 or more years ago so if I use it I won’t feel too badly

One of my grand daughters started us on Secret. Santa. All say one item and computer decides who gives what . no stress and receive something you like instead of lots of stuff you don't like ,,!!

i got plenty of ink christmas stamps .that i dont want.find me on facebook. i live in croydon.......greater london..

use threaded pop corn for tinsel. then throw out for birds afterwards...(taken from little house on the prairie books)....get grandchildren to make baubles with collage/cardboard...little baskets of home made sweets...

I'm doing my bit by NOT killing a tree or leaving its poor carcass out on the kerb for the New Year bin men. I deplore the practice.

Nor am I having a plastic one.

I shall probably prune the Manuka overhanging my deck and use those very fragrant branches in a vase. I have some beautiful old cloisonne stars and baubles I may hang from them.

My olive wood Nativity set, from Bethlehem, bought over 50 years ago, may come out.

But as I shan't be here this Christmas, maybe I won't bother with any of it.

Thus saving the world single-handed

I am going to try wrapping gifts in scarves, like the ones sold in Lush - you just tie them round your gift. I'd like to not be using paper at all. For years I've been saving all the reasonably good stuff after I've carefully unwrapped my gifts - and using that again the next year so I seldom buy any new- but recycling wrapping paper isn't easy - many Councils don't collect it. It seems to compost down ok as long as you can remove the sellotape first, but obviously reducing is better. than recycling. We should probably try to avoid buying rolls or sheets wrapped in plastic! I have cotton napkins too - been using them for years, they are very festive with a holly motif, I think I bought them from a charity catalogue yonks ago - trying always to avoid disposable anything.

I’ve just bought visit to Tutankhamen exhibition for one. Last year sponsored a donkey. Wish I could think of more ideas!
Every year think I won’t send cards, but then relent. They are the only bit of Christmas I like!

Scale it all down, make your own decorations and crackers (with something nice inside), wrap things in new tea towels or pillowcases and string (all useful) and buy just for the kids. Have a secret Santa (Elfster) with a £20 limit for the adults - and get something you actually want. Take food or drink for hosts. Enjoy it as it's just one day. What we do on all the other days is far more important!

Really cutting back this year as only buying for DGC ×3, OH, 3 adult CH, and DIL. that's it. All the rest will get cards probably posted as we're moving away. Will save a lot of money as I usually buy for sisters nieces nephews great nieces and nephews, daughter's friends children etc. (nearly 40 altogether) but we're on pension now, both not working so can no longer afford it.

This is one of many, if you have a search for Christmas tree rental, one will be nearby

www.loveachristmastree.co.uk/

In regards to Christmas trees, we have a local place where you can have a real tree allocated to you, you have the tree over the Christmas period, and they will come pick it up, plant it back and start again all over the next year. I'll see if I can find a link

Apparently Dunelm are doing eco friendly crackers. We have agreed a small budget for presents this year