(One of our environmentally friendly wrapping papers- click here to view)
We all know that Christmas is the time for excess, but do you find yourself trying to ‘find a home' for all your new things in early January? Maybe you’ve taken down the Christmas decorations and feel guilty about throwing some things out? Well, we’ve put together 5 easy tips on how to reduce your festive waste!
1. Return, donate or sell unwanted gifts - This seems like a fundamental approach, but if you are struggling for space, this is a no brainer! In the first instance, returning unwanted items is the best bet; however, this can be a gratitude minefield. A less nerve-racking solution is to sell unwanted items on eBay, Gumtree, Depop etc. If you can’t return and don’t want the hassle of selling, donating unwanted items may be an idea.
2. Free present labels? Yes please - Instead of recycling those Christmas cards, why not get crafty and chop the festive front pages off. These will make great labels for next year’s gifts before popping in the recycling!
3. Don’t toss that unused Christmas Pudding! - Although there are no concrete answers for how long a Christmas Pud will last, most suggest that your festive pudding has a shelf life of around 2 years.
4. Keep those festive bags and boxes - These can be a great sustainable alternative to traditional wrapping paper. Not only will it save you money, but it will also cut down your waste next Christmas.
5. Reusable advent calendars - So, our advent calendars get tossed out after the 24th of December (generally). In a traditional calendar, the chocolates sit nicely in a moulding. Hold on to the moulding, and you can make your own festive chocolate shapes for next year!
Remember the golden rule for reducing your carbon footprint; reduce, reuse, recycle. Here at StAndEN, we run a reuse project whereby we can accept house clearance items (small appliances, crockery, cutlery, bedding, etc.), which will be provided to people in the community in need. You can find out more about this project here.
Written by Gavin