Eco Friendly Tips For The Holidays

The holidays are one of the most excessive times of year.

Between the food, the gifts, the decorations and the activities, things start to add up in more ways than one. While it might be hard to reign in the cookie monster inside of you {But really, who among us can say no to Christmas cookies?!}, it’s relatively simple to cut back on the excessiveness in other areas of the season. One such specific area being the environmental impact of the holiday season. Between food waste, mountains of wrapping paper and plastic packaging, excessive shopping and gifting, increased travel and on and on, it can be a pretty wasteful and unsustainable time of year. However, there are lots of simple, easy changes you can adapt that will help make a difference.

Below, I’ve listed out a few of my eco-friendly tips for the holidays. Each is something that we do every season, and many are things my family has been doing for as long as I can remember. Now, don’t get overwhelmed by the list. It may look like a lot, but I promise everything on here is totally manageable. Some of you may find that all of this suggestions work for you, some of you may only want to choose to do one or two of these actions. Do what you’re comfortable with, do what you can, ease into these changes, pick one or two that you know you can handle…whatever you do, remember that it counts, every little bit counts towards a more sustainable holiday season.

Forage for Festive Touches

Decorations don’t have to come from a store to be festive. Outside of a few ornaments, my favorite holiday decorations are always those that we’ve made or foraged for. Whether it’s seashells, pinecones, acorns, bark, berries or greenery the options are endless. Be sure to always check out tree lots for greenery clippings {some will even give them out for free}, and, if you can’t forage, Trader Joe’s is always a great option for cheap greenery and berries.

I also love using citrus and spices {like cinnamon sticks} for easy, eco-friendly decorations {that smell good, too}. For some inspiration on how I’ve used foraged pieces in the past, check out this holiday decor post, this winter woods tablescape post and this DIY wreath post.

Use Rechargeable Batteries

Many holiday decorations, including my favorite magical fairy lights, are battery operated (Yay for saving electricity!). Just swap out those regular batteries for ones that are rechargeable to make your decorations even more eco-friendly.

Use Solar Powered + LED Holiday Lights

Switching regular string lights for more energy efficient LED lights is one of the easiest changes you can make. And for outdoors, use solar powered string lights instead. Bonus-the lights will last longer AND you’ll save money on your electricity bill, too.

Gift Better

Gift your friends and family with eco friendly gifts, gifts that give back {check out my list here for ideas}, gifts that are made from recycled materials {like a pair of Rothy’s!} or gifts that inspire someone else to become more eco-friendly {i.e. gift them reusable straws or a cute reusable water bottle}. Another option is to purchase gift cards to give instead. It cuts back on packaging waste (especially if you do an e-card) and it allows the recipient to get exactly what they want so there’s no waste in gifts that go unused or someone having to wasting packaging, gas, etc. to return something.

Another option (and my personal favorite) is to gift experiences instead of things {I have a whole list of ideas here}. Not only does this eliminate gifting waste, it really emphasizes what the season is truly all about {aka the people you spend it with, not the things you give and get}.

Re-Use Wrapping Paper

I picked up this habit from my Mom. For as long as I can remember she has instructed us on carefully opening presents to preserve the paper, which would then get added to the big stash in the laundry room, along with every ribbon, box, bag, tin and container. Oh, and if the front of our holiday cards could be cut off and made into a new card we did that, too. Nothing went to waste, and everything got re-used {even if it was just re-using tissue paper to store Christmas ornaments}. I still do this to this day not only because it cuts down on waste but also because it’s just so easy to do. Plus, it means wrapping paper is one less holiday expense I have.

Think Outside the Box

Just because it’s a present doesn’t mean it needs to be wrapped in a traditional box. Try wrapping your gifts in things like tea towels {great for cooks, hostess gifts, kitchen items}, handkerchiefs or scarves {bonus points for picking up ones from a thrift store….obviously, just be sure to wash them before using them}, cloth sacks, clothes that are no longer being used, etc. I also save paper bags and boxes throughout the year to re-use for gifting. If they’re plain, I use them as is. Otherwise, I’ll use stamps, stickers, ribbons, etc. to cover up previous markings and make them look more festive.

Keep it Local

Whether it’s the gifts you’re giving or the food you’re preparing, try to buy local what you can, as close as you can. Not only are you supporting local businesses, but by shopping local you’re also eliminating the need for things like plane transportation or 2-day shipping.

Make Better Food Choices

Buy local and in-season, purchase things in bulk and use reusable bags, make what you can to cut back on the excessive packaging that often comes with prepared foods, get creative with things that are about to go bad (i.e. make dried orange slices to decorate with or use chicken scraps and bones to make broth), and compost any remaining food scraps or food waste. Also, decorate with things that are edible, such as oranges and whole walnuts, so they get a second life as a tasty treat post-holidays, or, in the case of something like clove oranges, they can easily get composted.

Offset Holiday Travel

I love flying Delta for many reasons, but one of the main ones being that they make it so easy to offset carbon emissions from your flight. However, even if you don’t fly Delta, or if you’re traveling by other means, there are plenty of other ways to offset your transportation. Check out this site or this one for a few ways to get started with carbon offsets.

Get a Real Tree

Not only is a real tree better than an artificial tree aesthetically, it’s also better when it comes to greenhouse gas emissions. And when all is said and down, and it’s time to pack the holidays away, please keep those emissions down by recycling your tree. Every place we’ve ever lived has a program to recycle trees, be it for future products, the local parks or wood chips for the community. Simply Google “Recycle Christmas tree + name of your town” to find out where you can recycle in your hometown.