How to make your holiday as waste-free as possible: DIY tips and tricks

For example, instead of ribbon, use twine or biodegradable string with pieces — a sprig of holly, a snip of eucalyptus, or a spruce branch — tucked into it. It’s a rustic look that will hold up even if you pre-roll things. Instead, place something less solid, like flowers or berries, right before handing out gifts.

Don’t forget the tape!

The last thing you want to do is make all those adjustments and ruin it with a standard plastic tape that can’t be recycled. Sellotape now offers a Plastic-free version From their famous bar, it is 100% vegan and completely biodegradable. Instead, consider paper options like washi tape. These often come in pretty patterns too, which can also help to jazz up the plain brown paper.

Send fewer cards — or go digital

If you have a large family that uses holiday cards, it can be difficult to break the habit, but there are about 2.65 billion Christmas cards sold each year in the United States, and sending one fewer card of each would save 50,000 cubic yards of paper. According to Stanford University.

It helps that there are now great digital options that can be sent to friends and family via email, eliminating waste completely – and can be sent last minute when it’s too late to mail anything. Make an extra effort to discuss in advance with your loved ones that you will all go the digital route for greater environmental gains.

If you can’t afford to disrupt family traditions, just make sure you choose your cards as carefully as you choose your wrapping paper. Avoid using glitter and foil, and look for cards labeled recyclable. Better yet – also look for ones made from post-consumer recycled materials. You can even purchase the cards included with the seeds and packets You plant!

Of course you only have control over the cards you send. If you receive some non-recyclable cards, consider saving them and cutting them up to reuse the parts with the holiday symbols as gift labels for next year.

Choose a real Christmas tree, if you have one

It may seem counterintuitive, but even though real trees are only used once before you throw them away, they produce less waste than their artificial counterparts. This is because a real tree can be completely recycled if disposed of properly, and can be used for things like firewood, wood chips, or compost.

Fake trees, on the other hand, are made of materials that can’t be recycled and don’t head to a landfill until after the time of spreading Christmas cheer is over. Carbon box It is estimated that you would need to reuse an artificial tree between seven and 20 times (depending on size) to offset the carbon footprint of manufacturing, packaging and shipping. When purchasing that real tree (if you haven’t already) make sure you buy something locally grown, which is the most sustainable option because it doesn’t have to be shipped as far.

Go DIY on decorations

When decorating your tree and your house, the same rules apply. Plastic and foil are banned, and creativity is the best way to reduce waste. For great DIY ideas, I’m sending you YouTube full of holiday decor tutorials: Paper garlands, Hanging paper dreadlocks, Salt dough dessertA Diy Kwanzaa KinaraAnd he scores more. These decorations may not stand the test of time in storage, but they will be fully recyclable and compostable once the holidays are over, meaning you can consciously change up your color theme each year.

Store-bought holiday crackers — cardboard tubes that you pull at both ends to open — should be avoided. They traditionally use shiny, glossy materials, which makes them non-recyclable, just like cards and wrapping paper. And that’s before you consider the dreaded gift, which often has plastic inside and which usually finds its way into the trash almost immediately.