Think green for our future

Words MARIA FAALAFI

Christmas is such a magical time. You get to spend time with friends and family, indulge in delicious food and open Christmas gifts! But unfortunately, after all the hype is over, we are left with mounds of food waste, a few extra pounds, and lots of unnecessary rubbish (think plastic cutlery, broken Christmas decorations, wrapping paper, Christmas cards, etc). During Christmas our waste increases by around 30%. In fact, Australians use more than 150,000km of wrapping paper to wrap Christmas presents – that’s enough to wrap around the Earth’s equator nearly four times! What’s worse is that most of the giftwrapping papers can’t be recycled.

So how can we reduce our waste during the silly season? Well I have a few eco Christmas tips that not only save unnecessary rubbish going into landfill but are also a fun activity for the whole family.

Gift Wrapping

Wrap your gifts with pretty tea towels or fabrics, painted cardboard boxes, beeswax wraps, or get the kids to create pretty drawings on recycled paper. These options are not only great for repurposing things around the home, but the receiver can either keep them or reuse them.

Gift Decorations

Instead of using plastic bows, decorate your gifts with dried flowers, plant cuttings, wood ornaments or feathers. Instead of ribbons to wrap the gifts, use jute string, cotton yarn or strips of used fabric. For name tags use old cut-up cards, pieces of tree bark or leaves and use a hole puncher to attach them with string.

Decorations

Create your own plastic-free decorations for your Christmas tree by making baubles from air drying clay, hanging pinecones or origami stars from painted scrap paper. Make your own Christmas bonbons by reusing the carboard rolls of toilet paper and filling them with healthy treats, wooden ornaments or inspirational quotes. To wrap the bonbons, use painted scrap paper, paper bags or fabric scraps, and tie them with jute or cotton string. Create your own wreath by shaping a metal coat hanger into a circle, then attaching dried flowers, foliage and pinecones with twine. For table decorations, you can use beeswax or soy candles, slices of a tree trunk or weaved jute as coasters, and painted branches with added dry foliage and flowers.

Gifts

If you have time and patience, you can create your own eco-friendly gifts, like beeswax candles in recycled glass jars, DIY cookie jars or macramé decorations. But if you are strapped for time like most of us, you will find a great range of eco-friendly gifts at ECO Marketplace, including eco gift hampers and optional gift wrapping.

So this year, let’s have a Christmas that doesn’t cost the Earth or our hardearned cash!

www.ecomarketplace.com.au