Waste less this Christmas

Low waste Christmas decorations tips

Reuse last years stuff

The best Christmas decorations are the ones you already own!

Instead of buying new, treasure the baubles, garlends, lights and any other festive trinkets that hold memories of Christmas past.

If you don’t have any decorations to reuse, keep reading for more tips…

Get crafty!

There’s lots of great tutorials online to help you make your own natural and low waste Christmas decorations.

Check out some of our favourite on how to make dried orange rounds, paper garlands using old scraps of wrapping paper and origami snowflakes! 

Recycle, recycle, recycle

Broken fairy lights? Make sure you recycle them using small electrical recycling bins. Use Recycle Your Electricals’ Locator Tool to find your nearest drop off.

Christmas tree past its prime? Check here to see what your local council has arranged for Christmas tree recycling, or arrange a collection with a service like Tree Brothers so your tree can be shredded and used to enrich the soil in your local park and green spaces!

Low waste Christmas gifts tips

Think outside the box

Recent research has shown that buying experiences, rather than things, fosters feelings of connection and ultimately brings us more joy. It’s also a great way to keep things low waste! For the foodie in your life, why not gift a cooking class or meal out? For the film buff, how about a cinema outing?

And for the crafty ones amongst us, DIY pottery, a painting or a homemade edible gift are so heartfelt and original – the perfect way to show someone how much they mean to you.

For those who keep dropping hints about a new jumper or camera – try seeing if you can find them second hand on sites like eBay or Vinted. You can still find big brands and high-quality items when shopping preloved but for a fraction of the price. It’s a win-win in our eyes.

Lastly – and maybe the most meaningful of all – gifting a donation to a charity is quick, easy and personalisable! Choose a cause close to their heart and it’ll be the gift that keeps on giving.

To wrap, or not to wrap

Did you know, at Christmas we use around 38,000 tonnes of paper and card – that’s enough to wrap the London Eye over 6,500 times!

Before reaching for the wrapping paper, why not see if there’s anything you can reuse instead? In Japan, there’s a lovely tradition of wrapping gifts in silk scarves called furoshiki – check it out. Or for something simpler, try old newspapers or reusing the packaging from online shopping parcels.

There’s also a growing naked gift trend! No, not like that… More and more people are opting to forego wrapping up their gifts all together. After all, it’s what’s inside that counts!

Reuse, regift, recycle

Received a lovely gift that’s just not for you? Don’t leave it in some far-flung corner – someone can get a lot of joy from it! Try donating your unwanted gifts to local charities or regift it for a loved one.

For those Christmas cards and wrapping paper, why not reuse them to make some decorations for next Christmas? Or if you choose not to reuse, make sure you recycle them correctly.

For wrapping paper, try the scrunch test to see if it’s recyclable or not. Scrunch the paper into a ball and if it stays as a ball when you release it, it can be recycled. If it comes undone, it should go in your rubbish bin – check out the video below.

And lastly – remember that cards with glitter can’t be recycled, so make sure they go in the rubbish bin.

Low waste Christmas food tips

Plan ahead

After wrapping your head around what to cook for the big day, the next hurdle lots of us face is the dreaded shopping list. You have 8 coming but 2 don’t like sprouts, 3 are veggie and 4 are dairy free – sound familiar?

Thankfully, Love Food Hate Waste have an super helpful online calculator you can use to work out how much of everything you’ll need to buy based on numbers of people and meals you’ll need it for.

Not only is this great for keeping things low waste, but it will save you money and time cooking. Win-win!

Use it up

Christmas leftovers don’t have to be a burden. Eat Like a Londoner has some brilliant leftover recipes on their page that are sure to inspire even the most Grinch-esque amongst us.

Our favourites are the parmesan sprouts, Christmas quesadillas and leftover vegetable bhajis – yum! Keep your eyes peeled on the Eat Like a Londoner website for more leftover inspiration shared over the festive period.

And don’t forget to freeze your leftovers – you can freeze lots more than expected, including cooked or uncooked meat. Check online to see guidance for freezing durations and thawing.

Offer to others

If you find yourself with too much food this Christmas, try offering to local food banks, shelters, neighbours, guests or friends. You never know who might be in need of some nutritious meals in your community.

There are also lots of online forums where you can offer food to others. Try the Olio app or NextDoor for neighbours to come and collect any food that would otherwise go to waste.