Christmas is a special time of year for many of us, and a chance to spend time with our loved ones, give gifts and enjoy a beautifully festive time.
The problem with the gift buying, the tree decorating and oodles of food is that combined it can have a major cost on the environment.
Christmas should not come at the expense of the environment and thankfully it is easy to make simple swaps to help your Yuletide be friendly to the Earth.
Stick To Sustainable Trees
There are so many trees that are bought to fit in people’s living rooms. According to the British Christmas Tree Growers Association, around 8 million trees are sold every year. All too many of them end up in a landfill.
If you have a plastic tree, keep using it, but for a real tree, consider either growing your own or renting a tree from a garden centre, so it can keep growing in the new year.
Buy Sustainable Gifts
Many of the presents we receive have non-recyclable packaging or are made with materials that aren’t friendly to the environment.
Most gifts you are likely to buy have a more sustainable alternative, whether it be eco-friendly face moisturisers and cosmetics, clothes, bags, toys and other gifts for all ages.
The more gifts are made with sustainable materials, the less of a carbon and ecological cost there will be.
Cut Food Waste
The biggest way we can help our environmental impact is in the food we eat. According to a study published in the journal Nature, if we shift to a vegan diet that can have a significant effect on efforts to reduce and reverse climate change.
Other things we can do include supporting small scale farming and buying organic food if we can, buying food without much packaging and using up as much of what we eat as we possibly can.
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