5 easy eco changes for a greener Christmas
By now, most people have their trees up and are getting well into the swing of Christmas. But with a few weeks to go, there are still some easy changes we can adopt to help make this festive season a little greener:
Christmas Shopping Bags - We are all across the much celebrated phasing out of single use plastic bags, but don’t just limit reusable bags to food shopping. You can also use them for Christmas shopping too. Many retailers use thicker plastic bags, and whilst these are more durable, they ultimately end up in landfill and will stick around for even longer than their single-use cousins.
Gifts - Speaking of Christmas shopping, Australians return more that $600 million worth of dud gifts each Christmas. That is a serious amount of waste, both in resources and time. To avoid having your present included in this rising statistic, take a look at these pretty awesome (and mainly) ‘non-thing’ gift ideas.
Wrapping Paper - Often, wrapping paper is covered in glitter, plastic or sticky tape and can’t be recycled. What’s more, it’s estimated that 50,000 trees worth of Christmas wrapping paper is used each year - Just in Australia! Luckily, there are some eco friendly wrapping paper alternatives here.
Food - One third of all household waste is food waste and during the Christmas period, total household waste goes up by around 30%. To avoid contributing to this increase, here are a couple of tips.
- Plan you meals in advance - not just for Christmas, but also the days following.
- Have a clear grocery shopping list and stick to it
- Where possible, choose dishes or items that have a longer shelf lifeIf you do find yourself with extras, here are some great Christmas leftover food recipes courtesy of BBC and Jamie Oliver.
Recycling - If it can be recycled, make sure it goes in the right bin. Where possible, favour food & drink packaged in glass or aluminium, as opposed to plastic. Glass and aluminium can be recycled infinitely without degrading their purity or quality.