Gifts
Finding the right gift is always the hardest part of Christmas. With so much choice its becoming easier to find gifts that can be some what sustainable.
The key to finding ‘eco’ gifts is to make sure the product is wrapped in either a sustainable material, i.e cardboard or paper, alternatively trying to source gifts that have very little packaging to reduce your waste consumption.
Another great gift idea is to create an eco hamper. Hampers make great gifts as you can tailor them to the person you are gift, you can also be in charge of the amount of packaging is involved. You can also include resuable gifts to aid the person to reducing their waste, ie a reusable travel mug.
Lastly a great way to reduce waste is to gift sponsorships. For example you can sponsor a nature reserve, sponsor an animal. These come a little cost and a great way to preserve our wildlife and to gift to others.
Wrapping Your Gift
Wrapping presents can become an easy shortfall when trying to reduce waste. More often than not wrapping paper, especially ones with a sheen or glitter are not recyclable so therefore end up in landfill.
Secondly we have become so accustomed to using sellotape to finish and close our gift up. However, sellotape is also made from plastic and unfortunately is also not recyclable. The best and more attractive way to close a gift is through using a ribbon or string.
Lastly Christmas cards also fall under the wrapping category. Although typically made from card, not all cards are recyclable! They are similar to wrapping paper in that if they are shiny or glittery they will end up in landfill. You could try your hand at making your own Christmas cards that way you know they can at least be recycled. Alternatively if you are sending cards out you could try setting up an ‘E’ card that they can receive immediately through email. This reduces waste.