12 Days of Christmas - Sustainably

Published on 03 December 2024

The Christmas traditions we love often come with a hidden environmental cost. From excessive waste to high energy consumption, the festive season can have a significant impact on our planet. With a little thought and effort, we can make this holiday season greener and more sustainable. To help you get started, we’ve compiled our "12 Sustainable Days of Christmas" — a guide to reducing waste and celebrating with care for the Earth.

We hope these ideas will spread even faster than your favourite holiday carol!:

1. Inspire Collective Action: One of the best ways to make a real difference is by involving your family and friends. Foster the spirit of togetherness by taking collective action to reduce household waste. Studies show that in the UK alone, nearly 30% of all household waste comes from food packaging, much of which is plastic. This Christmas, make an effort to reduce it together.
2. Eco-Friendly Decorations: Before purchasing new festive trimmings, consider reusing, recycling, and upcycling. DIY decorations can be fun to create and are a great way to minimize waste. There are simple yet fun decorations that can be added around the home to decorate as well as your tree.
3. Save the Trees! If you're yearning for the smell of a real pine tree this Christmas, choose a potted one that can be replanted after the holidays. Alternatively, you can craft your own tree using natural materials like sticks, (like the one pictured below), which can return to the earth once the season is over. According to environmental studies, a real tree has a lower carbon footprint compared to artificial trees if disposed of properly. But keep in mind, buying a real tree when you already have a useable artificial one is not as sustainable, making the most of what you already have is the most sustainable option. 
4. Thrifty Gift-Giving: Skip the fast fashion and opt for second-hand gifts or upcycled treasures. When you shop second-hand, you’re helping divert waste from landfill, and research shows that buying used items can reduce the environmental impact of clothing production by 80%. Australia alone disposes of more than 200,000 tonnes of textile waste into landfill each year. Watch out for our Christmas waste podcast being released soon! If interested, you can listen to our Sustainable Fashion podcast released in September here. 
5. Don’t Go Disposable: Set the table with reusable cloth napkins and your beautiful dinnerware to reduce waste and conserve resources. On average in the US, each person uses about 1.2 kgs of disposable tableware per year, which is a significant waste when alternatives are just as festive!
6. Wrap It Wisely: Wrap your gifts sustainably with re-usable gift boxes, bags, recycled paper, or even tea towels. Remember, traditional wrapping paper that includes foil, glitter, or plastic coatings cannot be recycled. In the US alone, over 1.8 tonnes of wrapping paper end up in landfills each year.
7. Forage Locally for Feasts: Sourcing organic, locally grown food for your holiday meals helps cut down on your carbon footprint and reduces unnecessary packaging AND also supports our local businesses. Locally grown foods have a significantly lower environmental impact for example due to reduced travel distances and shortened periods from field to plate, saving both resources and energy.
8. Thoughtful Gift-Giving: Skip the wasteful packaging and shop local artisans or ethical brands. Another great option is to gift experiences or subscriptions that don’t require packaging at all, such as concert tickets or spa days. Ethical consumerism is on the rise, with nearly 60% of shoppers in the US saying they want to buy from brands that prioritize sustainability. If you're completely overwhelmed with how to figure out which brands are sustainable make sure you check out goononyou.eco to check out your favourite brands, or even to find a new favourite brand which ticks all of your eco boxes.
9. Digital Invitations and Cards: Send your holiday greetings electronically instead of using paper cards. E-cards and digital invitations save paper and the associated emissions from printing and shipping. It’s estimated that sending a physical holiday card creates around 4.5 grams of CO2 emissions, which quickly adds up.
10. Recycling Stations and Composting: Set up designated recycling and composting stations in your home ahead of Christmas gatherings. Research shows that if we all made a habit of recycling properly, we could reduce global emissions by 8 to 10 percent. Did you know we will take your soft plastics for recycling? We also take a huge number of items for recycling including embedded battery toys which we are accepting as part of a 2-year trial with 21 other Councils, check out our waste guide here to see what else we are accepting for recycling.
11. Use Solar-Powered Lights for Outdoors: Solar-powered lights are an excellent eco-friendly alternative to traditional Christmas lights. They’re energy-efficient and don’t add to your electricity bill. In fact, if every household in the UK replaced their conventional Christmas lights with LED ones, it would save the equivalent of 40,000 cars’ worth of CO2 emissions.
12. Declutter Ahead of the New Year: The average home contains approximately $6,623 worth of unused clutter (2022). This holiday season, consider re-gifting those unused items or donating them to charity. Re-gifting doesn’t have to mean less effort—it can be thoughtful and personalized, helping reduce waste and giving your loved ones something they’ll truly enjoy. As mentioned above, if it is not possible to rehome items due to it not working or not to re-gift check out the waste guide (see above) to help prevent items unnecessarily ending up in landfill.

For more ideas on how to make your Christmas more sustainable, visit these helpful resources: 

Cleanup Australia Christmas Guide

Sustainable Christmas Tips from WWF

With these simple changes, we can all create a more sustainable and joyful Christmas!