Plastic-Free Tips & Tricks
We’re dreaming of a green Christmas…
We’re dreaming of a green Christmas…
Christmas is one of those holidays where there is plenty of excess and wastage. From gift wrap and decorations to party plates and cutlery. Our aim this Christmas is to help you celebrate in the most sustainable way possible.
Sustainable Decorations
Making your own Christmas decorations is not only a great
family activity but it could also save you money as well as the planet. We’ve
got two easy DIY Christmas decorations for you to try out!
Whether you’re changing the colour scheme of your tree or just looking to add some sparkle, why not update your existing Christmas baubles this year?
A simple way to spruce up your decorations is to add some glitter. You can either paint the entire bauble and dip it in glitter. Use gold, silver, red or green glitter or any colour that matches your theme. Alternatively, you could go for a more subtle approach by painting the glue in a festive shape. From snowflakes and stars to trees and phrases – this DIY works with any pattern or shape and brings the sparkle back to your decorations again.
A simple way to spruce up your decorations is to add some glitter. You can either paint the entire bauble and dip it in glitter. Use gold, silver, red or green glitter or any colour that matches your theme. Alternatively, you could go for a more subtle approach by painting the glue in a festive shape. From snowflakes and stars to trees and phrases – this DIY works with any pattern or shape and brings the sparkle back to your decorations again.
If you want to create something interesting and unique to your
Christmas tree this year, why not try making these cute felt ornaments?
For this DIY you will need:A sewing needle
Coloured felt
Matching thread
A ribbon to hang the decoration with
A pair of scissors
A few pins
To begin making this craft you’ll need to make yourself a template of the design you want to create, or you can find one online. Start by cutting out the template pieces and laying them on top of the felt, making sure to cut out your pieces in the correct colours. Next Cut your ribbon to around 12cm long. Once, you have all of your pieces cut out you can assemble what your ornament will looks like by layering your pieces to form the design. Sandwich the ribbon in between two pieces of felt to create the loop for hanging. Attach the ribbon, in a loop, to the inside of one of your pieces with a few stitches. Now Sew along the edges of each pieces of felt to attach them all together, making sure to use corresponding coloured thread. To make the ornament double sided – make a copy of the pieces you made earlier and sew both designs back to back. Then, you’re all done and ready to decorate your tree!
For this DIY you will need:A sewing needle
Coloured felt
Matching thread
A ribbon to hang the decoration with
A pair of scissors
A few pins
To begin making this craft you’ll need to make yourself a template of the design you want to create, or you can find one online. Start by cutting out the template pieces and laying them on top of the felt, making sure to cut out your pieces in the correct colours. Next Cut your ribbon to around 12cm long. Once, you have all of your pieces cut out you can assemble what your ornament will looks like by layering your pieces to form the design. Sandwich the ribbon in between two pieces of felt to create the loop for hanging. Attach the ribbon, in a loop, to the inside of one of your pieces with a few stitches. Now Sew along the edges of each pieces of felt to attach them all together, making sure to use corresponding coloured thread. To make the ornament double sided – make a copy of the pieces you made earlier and sew both designs back to back. Then, you’re all done and ready to decorate your tree!
If you want to follow a pictorial to help you make these
ornaments, we found this great one by Laura Howard – click here to read it.
Sadly, most wrapping papers cannot be recycled because of
the printed pattern on them so this year we have found some eco-friendly, sustainable
wrapping paper to ensure your Christmas is as sustainable as possible.
- Hobby craft sells eco wrapping paper for just £3.00 a roll. Printed on eco brown paper these rolls of wrapping paper are much more easily recycled than most paper. Order online or check in your local store to see what they have in stock.
Click here to shop. - Re-wrapped is a fantastic eco-friendly business, it was “founded in 2011 and specialises in designing and producing a range of top-quality wrapping paper and other products, made solely from 100% recycled paper.”
Click here to shop. - Happywrap specialises in reusable fabric gift wrap. The perfect way to wrap your eco-friendly gifts this Christmas to minimise your waste. Shop a variety of sizes in different pattern and colours and keep them to wrap presents again and again.
Click here to shop.
Sustainable Crackers
Christmas crackers can contain a lot of plastic and aren’t always
recyclable. As one of the most essential parts of any festive celebration, we
thought we’d show you how to make this Christmas tradition as sustainable as
possible.
If you haven’t got time to make your own or just don’t want
the fuss of finding gifts and jokes to go inside, we’ve found some crackers you
can buy in supermarkets and high street shops that have little waste.
- Our first shop bought crackers are from Hotel Chocolat. Each mini cracker has a gourmet chocolate hiding inside and even has space on the outside for writing your guests names on. We can’t be 100% sure that the card cracker is recyclable (make sure you check the label before buying!) but they certainly have less waste than a regular cracker with all of the plastic gifts inside.
Click here to buy. - The second option we have found for you is reusable crackers. Keep This Cracker, run by Bea Thackeray, is a sustainable way to celebrate Christmas whilst also reducing your waste too. These crackers come flat packed for you to fill with personalised gifts for all the family – to reuse them next year simply replace the ‘snap’ and they're ready for festive fun all over again. Better still, the packaging they are shipped in is 100% recyclable too.
Click here to buy.
Bulk Buying
If you have a large family or lots of friends to celebrate
with this Christmas, why reduce your waste and shop more sustainably whilst
also saving yourself some pennies. Buy in bulk can be an excellent way of stocking
up for Christmas, whether you buy food, gifts or decorations, wholesales can be great value for money as well as eco-friendly by saving on the individual
wrapping.
We’ve compiled a list of our favourite wholesales for this Christmas.
- In recent years, there has been a rise in supporting small businesses so why not bulk buy from a small brand? We love Etsy for this as it supports a number of small brands, most of which are sustainable or eco-friendly too. This is a great way of buying lots of gifts and getting your Christmas shopping done in record time!
Click here to explore Etsy bulk buying. - If you’re looking for Christmas cards this year look no further than Tree Free greetings. They stock a wide range of greeting cards as well as gifts including drinkware, stationery, magnets, playing cards and much more. Great for bulk buying eco greetings cards as well as small gifts that are perfect for your reusable crackers!
Click here to shop.
Shop their sister brand for more Christmas gifts for all the family! http://www.somdiff.com/ - If you're looking for gifts to fill your Christmas crackers or stocking fillers Shared Earth has you covered. Offering a wide range of recycled gifts, including ranges made with recycled crayons, bike chains, circuit boards, tyres, glass, metal & many other creatively recycled products.
Click here to shop. - Wrapping presents can be difficult and although gift boxes are pretty and useful, they're not always sustainable. We’ve found a brand who solves this problem – Fold-A-Box. Their flatpack boxes are beautiful and made with a natural Kraft finish – perfect for all your present wrapping problems this Christmas!
Click here to shop.
Sincerely Madia & Matilda
