TIPS FOR A LOW IMPACT CHRISTMAS

The month long run up to Christmas is all about shopping, there I said it. It’s a harsh truth but a fact none the less. While we prefer to think of Christmas as the time families and loved ones come together, share a meal and exchange thoughtful gifts, it’s also important to remember the sheer mountain of waste we create over this one magical day.

Each Christmas, as I move a little further away from the consumer aspects of “Holiday” time and closer to the minimal, I discover more eco-friendly festive alternatives. My concern for the health of our home and the humans who make our stuff doesn’t pause for Christmas Day so why would I behave as if it does?

I used to buy 5 rolls of wrapping paper for presents, but now get by entirely on the paper and fabric scraps I save throughout the year. I’m even using knots, bows and string instead of sticky tape to hold my gift parcels together. All this may sound like white priviledge wokeness, but believe me the gluttony of “global north culture” Christmas, has never sat well with me. It isn’t just the excessive number of presents, it’s also the extravagant amount of food we prepare, much of which ends up in landfill.

As a child in Australia I grew up with a strange version of the traditonal English Christmas dinner. Three different kinds of roast meat laid out on the dining table at once accompanied with piles of roast potatoes, pumpkin, squash and green veg. As though it’s perfectly normal for a family of five to eat so much food on a hot summer’s day? All this proudly followed by a robust pudding I’d now consider a meal in itself, garnished with icecream and cream, no less. What the hell?

I firmly put the brakes on this, and some other childhood traditons, when I started my own family. Replaced them with new, less wastful Christmas customs and a reality check.

Although I’m still a million miles from doing zero waste Christmas, I’m not so far from the three R’s.

By choosing the secondhand option wherever possible I can REDUCE our carbon footprint enormously. Going full circle, I often REGIFT certain secondhand toys my children have outgrown and pass on to the younger kids. A few Christmasses ago I REFURBISHED an old 1940s dressing table and stool for my little Lulu. Picked up at a garage sale for £45, I painted it fushia pink, REcovered the seat in white faux leather and swapped the handles for crystal knobs…Tah dah! Suffice to say that hot pink vanity was a huge hit. Lulu was beside herself with excitement when she saw it and spent the rest of Christmas morning laying out her jewels, hair stuff and precious bits and bobs.

And so, once again these wonderful words work brilliantly even at Christmastime – REduce, REuse, REpurpose, REpair, REcycle…REthink how you shop.

WE WISH YOU A LOW IMPACT CHRISTMAS

This is our second Christmas in America and a very special one it is too. My little Brother and his family are coming all the way from Melbourne to see us and we couldn’t be more excited. It’s been five long years since we were last together, in fact it’s criminal to admit that I haven’t even cuddled my youngest of two nieces! Needless to say those two little girls are in for some major huggles from their Aunty Chelle so they better watch out as the song goes…

To celebrate this momentous occasion I bought some new Xmas decorations, secondhand from Goodwill.

My family’s last Christmas was about as low key as you can get. Just a tree with twinkly lights, a few well chosen gifts for the children and home-cooked burgers for lunch. It was, in a word, brilliant. We played card games, reminisced over old photos and watched Christmas movies together. It really was a lovely and very relaxed day. A stark contrast to finish one of THE most stressful years we could ever have imagined. Immigrating is tough even for those of us with every advantage and opportunity at our disposal.  Trying to settle into a surprisingly harsh country takes it toll on a family. My heart breaks for the families separated and locked up simply for wanting a safe home for their children.

Now onto the issue of waste – The U.S represents 4% of the global population but produces 12% of global municipal waste so it should come as no surprise to learn that Americans create 25% more waste between Thanksgiving and New Year. With a $720bn shopping habit it doesn’t take a maths genius to figure out where the waste comes from. Over packaged and unwanted gifts is just half the story. Manufacturing goods we don’t need and in many cases replacing what we already have, adds daily truckloads to that heaving mountain of landfill.

Unfortunately America is not unique in rampant consumerism. It’s estimated the U.K will spend £48.7 bn shopping this December, an increase of 3.8% on last year. Proof we are not slowing down despite what you may think. Yes we’re more aware of how important sustainability is and crucial to fighting the climate crisis but facts speak louder than good intentions and the fact is SPENDING IS UP OVER THE HOLIDAYS.

Hey what’s the skinny?

Throughout the year we do our level best to limit our detrimental impact on the planet. Trying to reduce conspicuous consumption, be more eco-friendly, choosing wisely and generally shopping less in our daily lives. Sadly it all tends to fly out the window as soon as the first jingle bell rings for Christmas. Black Friday and Cyber Monday rocks around conveniently, as intended, right on cue when most of us are racking our brains about what to buy the loved ones for Chrissy. Oh how tempting it is to shop hard and buy up big when everything is ON SALE!

Stop right there! It’s not a bargain if you don’t need it. Let me tell you from my recent experience, every step back I take from shopping, gets me further away from temptation. In other words, THE LESS I BUY, THE MORE I WANT TO BUY LESS. It’s like I’m becoming addicted to NOT shopping. True story.

SECONDHAND CHRISTMAS GIFTS

Gift shopping secondhand is a lot easier when you know what you’re looking for. It’s pretty simple to search Ebay, Craigs List and Facebook market place if you have the exact name of the item. Kids tech is the perfect example for doing this. One year I bought all three of my children a 3DS each in their favourite colour for a third of the original retail price. I knew they’d outgrow the games and technology, and I was also painfully aware of how many were already destined for landfill.

When your children are little it’s even easier to pick up awesome gifts secondhand. Charity shops and thrifting provide an Aladdins Cave of board games, soft toys and action figures that will fill a million hearts with joy forever and a day. I once found a Wallace and Gromit jigsaw puzzle that ended up being my Sons “all time favourite present ever” (his words) indeed after several years, it was so worn out by him it had to go in the paper recycling bin!

Unfortunately the older they get the harder it is to fullfill their Christmas wish list. However you shouldn’t lose heart because where there’s conspicuous consumption there’s a truckload of unwanted, nearly new stuff. Additionally, it’s important that by this age the teenager knows the rule less is more. Where once there was a pile of presents under the tree, now it’s just one or two precisely chosen, infinitely more expensive gems. Be grateful kid.

If you have an avid reader, try Barnes and Noble for secondhand books and limited editions. There are also 99c bins and bundles for a fiver plus I noticed some wonderful art books that include art supplies, bonus!

Don’t worry if you’re time poor, the big charity shops like Oxfam U.K are now online, so you can shop after the kids have gone to bed. It took two seconds for me to find this Monopoly for a Star Wars fan.

Likewise Goodwill which is mahoosive in the States. This place truly is a one stop shop for all the secondhand things at Christmastime.

Believe it or not some kids actually do want clothes for Christmas. There’s an enormous inventory on ThredUp where you’ll find every style for every taste and probably every high street brand to boot! However if you prefer a more select range of secondhand stock, I have a few rather excellent online options for you to browse below.

Manifesto Woman is a highly curated secondhand website that includes terrific Kids and Mens Fashion.

Retold Vintage would suit the fashion forward teen or young adult. This boutique has a small yet exquisite inventory of beautifully preserved vintage pieces. If you appreciate a collectors eye for one-of-a-kind vintage, this website is one you should watch all year.

Loopster was founded by a Mum like me who prefers to dress her kids in only secondhand clothes. Jane Fellner realised most Mums are just too busy to sift through the rails of charity shop clothes for kids, so she created this awesome secondhand site for us.

PRELOVED CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS & GIFT WRAPPING

As I said earlier, we bought our Christmas decorations from Goodwill this year. Equally, Oxfam online has some delightful handmade decorations (these dinos are adorbs!) or you can go into your local Oxfam in Britain for cheaper pre-loved decs.

Quite a few years ago I said no more Xmas cards unless your name is Grandad. I’d prefer to send a card to my friends and family on their birthdays rather than do the bulk buy pack at Christmas which always seemed rushed and impersonal. But hey that’s just me.

As I mentioned earlier I’m re-using all manner of bits ‘n bobs to wrap presents this year including scraps of material. Previously unbeknown to me there’s a name for this technique. Furoshiki is the Japanese gift wrapping technique that makes use of fabric offcuts while providing the recipient of your gift with an easy way to reuse it, beautifully closing the loop. It’s pretty easy, in any case here is a tutorial I found for those of you who like visuals.

BUY FROM SUSTAINABLE BRANDS INSTEAD OF FAST FASHION

When all other resources fail and you simply must buy a gift new, the best and most sustainable option is of course, to shop with small eco-concious brands. T-Shirts are an affordable way to dip your toe into fashion that costs a little more. My retro inspired organic cotton t-shirt above, is from the awesome Aussie label Spell and the Gypsy. The brands mission statement is nothing short of inspired –

“WE STRIVE TO MINIMISE HARM TO OUR PLANET IN ALL THAT WE DO.

To achieve this, we have begun measuring our impact in the areas of Supply Chain transparency, Sustainable Fibres, Environmental Footprint, Social Advocacy, Circularity and Giving Back – we are using this data to drive continuous improvement and refine the way we do things across our whole operations”

Another Aussie label making leaps forward in sustainable fashion is KITX . This edgy tiger tee by KITX is one from its Activism range, $5 from the sale of this t-shirt is donated to Climate Council.

There’s also a bee theme tee – $5 to Bee the Cure and this rockin’ nature tee – $5 to Carbon Neutral. Granted, $104 sounds a lot for a t-shirt but consider the fact we’ve been paying far too little for this ubiquitous garment for far too long. Hence we’re now paying the most horrendous price of all, the future of  our home is at stake which I’m sure you agree isn’t worth trading for a cheap t-shirt.  The truth is it takes 2720 litres of water to make a t-shirt. That’s how much one person drinks over 3 years! Wasting water is just the beginning, polluting waterways with chemicals and dyes then at the end of a cheap t-shirt life (designed to be short) it becomes textile waste. The cost of a fast fashion tee spreads through the environment like a disease until it reaches the top CEO of the brand which happens to be the only place it actually pays. A fast fashion CEO typically earns in 4 days what a garment worker earns in their entire lifetime. Add to that the probability of child labour and you realize saving money on fashion isn’t worth it. Watch THE TRUE COST. to learn more.

If you love the ethical t-shirt and its message but still can’t afford the price, perhaps paying in installments is the way forward? 4 payments of $26, interest free and you have the t-shirt while you pay it off! It’s really simple to set up and forget, I used this system to get my paws on this fabulous Doen skirt.

Alternatively, here are some non fashion presents I listed last year although this year I’d like to include plastic free options. I’ve learned a lot about zero waste since I compiled my sustainable Xmas list last year. As I move closer to my goal of no single-use plastic it occurs to me that I wouldn’t buy some of these items now. Although the list still has some pretty cool prezzies, worth a look if you’re stuck for ideas.

In terms of stocking fillers and gifts for co-workers this Christmas I’m introducing zero waste make-up and package free beauty products to those I love. So far I’ve bought a couple of lipbalms and a solid shampoo from LUSH and my favourite BeautyKubes shampoo and Beauty and the Bees solid conditioner. For more on that angle you should take a look at my post about sustainable beauty brands. Who doesn’t love a bit of beauty for Chrissy?

Finally let’s talk trees. I’d like to suggest renting your Christmas tree if you have a choice. This option isn’t available near me at the moment but it is very popular in inner cities like Manhattan and London if you live in one. Perhaps this is something we can encourage and promote? If we must insist on putting a fully grown tree inside our house for just one month of the year, perhaps somehing more sustainable would be best?

Happy Christmas shopping ecobabes! xxx