The festive season is upon us, and with it, a fair amount of temptation. We tend to associate Yuletide with feasting and luxury, but that doesn’t have to mean waste and excess.
Check out our tips for a mindful, but still meaningful, Christmas.
Give by heart not by volume
Don’t roll your eyes- a small, thoughtful gift can be just as meaningful to the receiver as Santa’s whole toy sack. Sometimes even more so. Try to think of something specific and seek it out- or conversely- explore your local charity shops until you spy the perfect gift you didn’t know existed.
There’s also a pretty strong argument for avoiding objects altogether- lots of our lives are cluttered enough as it is. Are there services or experiences you can offer your loved ones? Are you an artist? Sketch them! Do you have a masseur friend? Yes, please. How about a monthly invitation to Sunday lunch for Nan?
You could even explore re-gifting. No, it’s not “cheap”- it’s practical and responsible. What do you already have in your home that you know someone has always admired or liked? What books do you have on your shelf that you think a friend would enjoy? A jumper you've outgrown?
Buy presents locally
This is quite a big one, but our addiction to convenience has a massive carbon footprint. Those Amazon deliveries don’t come cheap from a climate perspective. Research from the World Economic Forum suggests that e-commerce deliveries are on track to increase city carbon emissions by 30%. Try to transition online shopping to brick and mortar stores if you can. Obviously this is more difficult in a cost of living crisis, but that same crisis is also impacting your local shops and cafes- so shopping or eating locally not only decreases your carbon footprint but boosts your community’s economy.
Wrap in fabric
Wrapping paper is the poster child for single use packaging- but without even the benefit of “protecting food from germs” or “keeping item safe during transport”. Wrapping paper exists to be ripped to shreds in a gleeful revelation- so though it is very pretty and lots of fun, it’s also extremely wasteful and mostly pointless.
So… Cut an old T-shirt in half, wrap your gift in it and then tie it up with a bow made out of a strip of another T-shirt, Or a sock. Or any other piece of fabric you may have round the house that’s not being put to any particular use and might look good transporting a gift and then being thrown on the floor.
Only cook what you need
Fridges teaming with cheese and meat, cupboards crammed with pickle and puddings… There’s a reason why we’re allowed an extra bag of rubbish on post-Christmas collection day. This bloat is a totally accepted, even encouraged as part of the season- but there’s no reason why it has to be.
Similar to our Christmas gift suggestion, plan your meal around the dishes you love. A centrepiece, meat or veggie, that’s big enough to feed your family and/or guests, a starchy side, a greeny side, gravy, and a pudding. No one really needs more than that, and you’ll have a lot less food waste on the 27th.
Change the focus of your meal
In the same vein, why not change the focus of your meal altogether? Instead of making the turkey king, why not experiment with fabulous side dishes? Sprouts with chilli and maple? Interesting. Parsnips with candied pistachios? Fun. Putting the emphasis elsewhere means that you can bulk up your meal with lower carbon-footprint foods, and if you do still have a meaty centrepiece, you won’t need such a big one if you’re serving a variety of delicious and exciting vegetarian sides.
