Our 5 Top Tips To Have A Conscious Christmas
Christmas is a great time of year for most. Family, friends, food and gifts make for a great time of the year. Combine that with things like seasonal hot chocolates and coffees, cosy fires and wrapping paper and you’ve quite the festive combination. You also have a lot of things like toxic consumerism, and waste. Whilst we don’t want to dampen anyone’s spirits, why not take this Christmas to be a bit more ‘conscious’, and show your family and children how Christmas can be full of festive cheer but shouldn’t be used as an excuse to live in excess.
Here are our tips on how to have a Conscious Christmas…
1.Invest in a KeepCup
Coffee shops love a good festive drink, and who wouldn’t? They’re pretty delish! They also come in a festive cup, making it even more special. From hot chocolates for the little ones to Lattes and Cappuccinos for mom and dad. Those cups, however, will end up in a landfill. In 2018, The Journal reported that 22,000 coffee cups end up in landfills in Ireland every hour. Yikes! The gimmick of a Christmas cup can only mean this number goes up. This problem is getting so serious that the Irish government are implementing a ‘Latte Levy’ on single-use coffee cups. Compostable cups included. That’s why you should invest in the likes of a KeepCup, it’s a great stocking filler and will allow you to be more conscious of your waste.
2. Cut Down On Wrapping Paper
Wrapping paper is usually not recycled, most it can’t be recycled in fact. So why add to the landfill with such waste this Christmas? There are plenty of reusable materials and items that you can wrap your gifts up in this Christmas. Why not try wrapping your presents in a nice scarf (as part of the gift), or using a gift box that can be reused or used for storage, or wrap up your gifts in a hamper (minus the cellophane).
3.Earn People’s Love, Don’t Buy It
While gift-giving is one of the main objectives of Christmas, it’s important your family (especially children) know that love isn’t something you express simply by purchasing a few nice gifts once a year. Yes, gifts can be thoughtful and meaningful but splurging on items isn’t the best way to show you care. Instead, show your children that Christmas is about family and friends, and time spent is much more valuable than money spent.
4.Portion Control
We seem to have a thing about the food at Christmas. Yes, most shops do shut on Christmas Day, but they will reopen the next day so there’s no need to purchase mountains of food ‘just in case’ and have it go to waste. Instead, make a rational decision surrounding how much food you will realistically need for that one day of the year. PHS Waste Kit reports
“ According to Unilever, 4.2 million Christmas dinners were wasted in the UK in 2014. This figure equates to approximately 263,000 turkeys, 7.5 million mince pies, 740,000 slices of Christmas pudding, 17.2 million Brussels sprouts, 11.9 million carrots and 11.3 million roast potatoes! The Brussels sprouts wasted at Christmas could power a home for 3 years. If all Christmas food waste was recycled into energy, it could power the average medium-sized home for 57 years.” How shocking is that?? It’s also important to remember that plastic straws, plastic cups, plastic cutlery, and paper plates etc are all a big no-no. We know it makes cleaning up easier, but the waste heading for landfill is just not worth it.
5. Give Back
Not everyone can afford Christmas, this is something that is very important to instil in young children. Giving back is important all year round, but there’s something about the hyped-up consumerism and notion that we should all be with family and friends that can really get to people. There are many initiatives across the country to help out your local community, and further afield.