Eco-Friendly Festivities

Article | Alex Burnell, Content Developer

The festive season is synonymous with exuberance and excess, but a little decadence doesn’t have to be at the expense of the environment. Here are some top tips for having a joyful, green December.

1. Rent a Tree

Let’s start at the root: a real tree is more eco-friendly than an artificial one. Real trees have a lower carbon footprint and are far more sustainable. Nonetheless, 7 million real trees are purchased every year for the festive period, and most of them are sent to landfill just a few weeks later. [1]

Renting a tree is becoming an ever more popular choice. Some tree rental services let you rent the same tree every year, and you can even give it a name if you like! Eventually, your tree can be recycled into chippings for local parks or woodland areas or used as a habitat for birds and insects.

Sprucing up your living room with a rented tree saves pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and waste. If you already have a fake tree, keep using it for as long as possible to negate its environmental impact. Depending on the tree, you’ll need to us it for 10–20 years for it to be a ‘greener’ option. [2]

2. Get Crafty With Decorations

Rather than buying new decorations made from plastic or PVC, why not create your own? Home-made decorations have a special charm, and making them alongside friends and family can spark some festive cheer on a grey December day.

Try upcycling old decorations that are on their last legs, or start from scratch using materials you have at home. You could make some decorations that won’t need to be thrown away, such as chocolates to hang on the tree or natural candles for your table.

3. Switch to Energy-saving Festive Lights

If every UK household swapped their festive lights with the LED equivalent, over the ’12 days’, the country would save more than 29,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions and £11 million in energy costs. [3] LED lights look pretty, contain no toxic substances, use 80% less energy and are 100% recyclable. [4]

Solar-powered lights are great for outside. Just make sure that they’re waterproof – and that the charging panel doesn’t get covered with snow!

4. Be Creative With Your Season’s Greetings

Each year, over 1 billion greetings cards are binned in the UK. [5] To show friends and family they’re in your thoughts, you could send them an e-card, write an email, phone them or have a video call instead.

If you like the tradition of sending cards, you could choose designs that are printed on recycled paper, approved by the Forest Stewardship Council, and recyclable or compostable. You can even send cards infused with wildflower seeds, which your friends can plant for the bees and butterflies to enjoy.

5. Think Outside the (Gift) Box

Gifts are tricky enough to choose, and that’s before you put much thought into their environmental credentials. It can be more eco-friendly to buy experiences instead of ‘things’, such as an escape room game or a pottery experience. You could also create handmade gifts or purchase presents from local organisations or people.

Shiny and glittery wrapping paper isn’t recyclable, but you could use brown paper for an eco-friendly alternative that has a vintage look. The same goes for ordinary sticky tape, as it is plastic. Plant-based tape, or ribbon or string, is more environmentally friendly.

6. Go Crackers

Crackers are a tradition that we don’t want to pull up on. Unfortunately, many are filled with plastic and imported toys that end up in the bin or on the floor before the meal is even over. However, more sustainable options are starting to appear in the shops.

A set of reusable crackers could be a great alternative. Writing your own jokes and filling the crackers with relevant gifts for specific people adds another festive touch.

7. Give the Menu Some Food for Thought

It’s no coincidence that the traditional vegetables that go into festive dinners are seasonal, and buying these locally also means fewer food miles and natural ripening methods. Planning your meals can leave you with less food waste (and better off financially), but if you do end up with leftovers you could add them to curries and soups – or encourage guests to take food home.

Festive meals can be heavy on meat and dairy too. Turkey has a lower carbon footprint than other meat and poultry, but it still needs huge amounts of energy. Poor management of manure and carcasses can pollute soil and water. To add variety, you could include more plant-based meals in your festive menu.

Do you have any top tips to keep your festivities eco-conscious? Head over to the Blue Voice Discussion Forum by logging in to your Blue Stream Academy training dashboard and selecting ‘Forum’, to share your tips with thousands of fellow health and care professionals throughout the UK.

1. The University of Sheffield. (2018). Pine Needles from Old Christmas Trees Could Be Turned into Paint and Food Sweeteners in the Future. 27 December. www.sheffield.ac.uk/news/nr/pine-needles-christmas-trees-1.822340 (Last accessed October 2022)

2. Zraick K. (2018). Real vs. Artificial Christmas Trees: Which Is the Greener Choice? The New York Times, 26 November. www.nytimes.com/2018/11/26/business/energy-environment/fake-christmas-tree-vs-real-tree.html (Last accessed October 2022)

3. 18 Ways to Have a Green, Eco-friendly Christmas. (2021). Country Living, 2 November. www.countryliving.com/uk/homes-interiors/i nteriors/g25329535/eco-friendly-christmas-ideas-green-christmas (Last accessed October 2022) 4. Energy Saving Trust: Lighting. (no date). https://energysavingtrust.org.uk/advice/lighting (Last accessed October 2022) 5. Dobson M. Christmas Packaging Facts: The Definitive List (Updated for 2022). GWP Group, October 2022. www.gwp.co.uk/guides/christmas-packaging-facts/ (Last accessed October 2022)