Good Energy Group plc
Good Energy Group plc
11/22/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 11/22/2024 04:32
How to have an eco-friendly Christmas
Christmas is a joyful time of year but with so much food, travel, gifts, decorations and new party outfits, it's not a great time for our environment. It's estimated that a typical UK household produces 30% more waste across the festive period when compared to the rest of the year, so in this article we'll help you and your household get that number down with some suggestions on how to have an eco-friendly Christmas.
How to have an eco-friendly Christmas
The waste stats may come across a bit bah humbug, but it's completely possible to have lots of festive fun with a few small changes. Here's what you need think about to have an eco-friendly Christmas.
Eco-friendly Christmas trees
Ah, the classic debate - real or fake? For some, it's a matter of preference - real smells great, but all those needles falling are a pain to clean up so fake is the way forward. But which option is best for the environment?
The answer: a real Christmas tree is better for the environment. As artificial trees have a carbon footprint of 40kg and aren't recyclable, they only pay off environmentally-speaking if you use for them more than 10 years.
Real Christmas trees, on the other hand, have absorbed carbon from the atmosphere as they grew, and Christmas tree farms are less resource-intensive than the factories that produce fake trees. Just take care to dispose of your eco-friendly Christmas tree appropriately, through woodchipping, burning or replanting.
Eco-friendly Christmas decorations
When it comes to eco-friendly Christmas decorations, one of the first issues to address is fairy lights. If you haven't already made the switch to LED, then now's the time as they use 90% less energy than the incandescent bulbs of old and LEDs last longer too. Power them with renewable energy from Good Energy and give your green Christmas credentials an extra boost.
If you're looking for new Christmas decorations, look out for sustainably made baubles and garlands and avoid plastic and glitter (which is a micro plastic). Many shops stock beautiful eco-friendly Christmas decorations made from FSC-certified wood and other natural materials. Be sure to get them out and re-use them year after year!
Eco-friendly Christmas gifts and cards
Every year, around £42 million worth of unwanted Christmas gifts head straight to landfill. To reduce the environmental impact of our ever-expanding landfill sites, consider some eco-friendly Christmas gifts such as:
- A Secret Santa with friends or family to reduce the number of gifts bought. Suggest each person outline a list of things they'd really like and would use so nothing goes straight in the bin
- Gift food and other consumables that can be enjoyed over the Christmas season - bonus points for choosing local or vegan options
- Tickets for shows and experiences can show someone you really know what they love
- Make a charitable donation in someone's name, like buying a Christmas meal for a homeless person or buying a clean water pump for a village in need.
238,855 miles of wrapping paper, along with over a million roles of sticky tape, are used in the UK every year so consider what you're wrapping your eco-friendly Christmas gifts in and opt for recyclable options. Again, avoid glitter or ribbons and bows made of plastic.
Adding a Christmas card to that gift? Make sure your Christmas cards are recyclable and deliver on foot if you can as sending just one card produces 140 grams of carbon dioxide. E-cards are greener but large email attachments still produce around 54 grams of CO2.
Eco-friendly Christmas food
Food, glorious food. For many, the food is the best bit of Christmas - in fact, 75% of Brits enjoy eating in excess at this time of year. To ensure you're eating eco-friendly Christmas food, there are a few things you can do:
- Plan ahead - make enough for what you and your guests need without overdoing it.
- Make plans for your leftovers so they don't go to waste - turkey curry, anyone?
- Limit your meat intake and consider meat-free alternatives like vegetarian wellington
- If you are eating meat, source it from a local farm shop
- Donate unused items to your local food bank or use Olio
Eco-friendly Christmas crackers
Christmas crackers are part of what makes Christmas so Christmassy but did you know that up to 99% of people put Christmas cracker gifts in the bin at the end of Christmas day? Help reduce this number by making your own eco-friendly Christmas crackers - it's a great bit of creative fun and you can even write your own terrible jokes. Sweets and chocolates are an ideal filler that won't go to waste.
Eco-friendly Christmas fun
Christmas can be hectic. There are family gatherings to get to, Christmas parties with friends and work, Christmas markets and concerts, Santa's grotto visits with the kids… Making these Christmas memories is wonderful but it all increases our personal carbon footprints.
Reduce your Christmas carbon footprint by using public transport where possible to get to all of these Christmas events. A seat on a train has 75% fewer emissions than driving an ICE vehicle and an electric car is even better than that.
Christmas jumpers and Christmas party outfits are a staple of the festive season. It's tempting to get something new - 1 in 3 under-35s buys a new Christmas jumper every year - but it's far better for the environment to reuse or buy second-hand.
Around 44% of Christmas jumpers are made entirely from acrylic and release harmful micro-plastics every time they're washed, so check out the labels on any Christmas outfits and opt for natural fibres where you can.
Enjoy an eco-friendly Christmas
With these simple changes we can all enjoy a merry Christmas while doing our bit for the environment. After all, our planet deserves an eco-friendly Christmas gift too.
Guest Author