5 Great Products For A Sustainable And Eco-Friendly Christmas
It was only last Christmas that I learnt (with complete aghast) that the most widely available form of Christmas wrapping paper cannot be recycled. Every year I piled high my recycle bags full of this paper - naively thinking it would go on to be reused further down the line - but all the metallic designs and glitter make it destined for landfill. I was horrified and swore there and then never to buy the stuff again. It was this revelation that really opened my eyes to searching out more sustainable ways to celebrate Christmas, so I was delighted to be introduced to quite a few seasonal products this year which are a lot more eco-friendly.
Recyclable wrapping paper from Dunelm.
Kraft wrapping paper is completely recyclable and the standard brown paper looks very chic with a reusable velvet bow. If you prefer colour, then you can pick up a range of shades from Etsy. If you don’t want to ditch festive patterns altogether, then Dunelm has gone all out with lots of pretty seasonal prints on 100% recyclable paper. This wrap includes a 'recycle me' print on the reverse, so the receiver knows to recycle it.
Recyclable wrapping paper from Dunelm.
Just like a lot of Christmas wrapping paper, Christmas crackers are completely unrecyclable and often contain a bunch of plastic attachments (such as fake berries) on them. The good news is that there is now a recyclable alternative. You can buy them plain and personalise them yourself with ribbon and removable toppers, or you can buy them ready-made and ready to be placed on the Christmas table.
Plastic-Free Crackers by The Paper Party Bag Shop.
I personalised these recyclable crackers from Hobbycraft with wooden toppers and satin black ribbon.
Pack Of 10 Eco-Friendly Family Christmas Crackers
BonjourBloom are an eco-friendly company who sell plantable Christmas cards. There are seeds embedded in the recycled paper; once Christmas is over your recipient can dampen the card, place it in soil where it will biodegrade and wildflowers (loved by bees and butterflies) will bloom in the summer months. You can buy pre-printed Christmas designs or buy blanks to create your own.
BonjourBloom pack of 6 Christmas cards, £14.50 for a pack of 6.
Christmas dinner leftovers can result in a lot of cling film use. Eradicate this single-use plastic with these festive Liberty print beeswax wraps. I’ve been using reusable beeswax wraps for most of this year in place of cling film and I love them. They are one of those ‘I wish I knew about this sooner’ products. The wax sticks the wrap together easily using just the heat from your hands and keeps food fresh. Vegan alternatives are also available.
Finally, I’ve included some natural, sustainable decorations that are a great alternative to the usual riot of Christmas kitsch and glitter. Using dehydrated fruit slices, plus other decorative dried sundries like cinnamon sticks, I simply loop them together with raffia ribbon. They last a couple of years before the orange starts to darken, then they can simply be placed in the compost. Any hot glue used to secure fir cones or peppercorns can be cut out before being disposed of. For a full DIY video on how to make these, check out my how-to video on Instagram.
I created these natural decorations using dried fruit and sundries.
