Reduce wrapping paper waste

Christmas morning can quickly cast you adrift on a sea of guilt-inducing wrapping paper waste, particularly if you have children. Most wrapping paper – that doesn’t contain foil or glitter - can go into your recycling bin to be collected at the kerbside after Christmas, but the following ideas are even better for the environment and can save you money too.

Use recycled materials

We all generally throw out lots of materials that could be used as wrapping paper – magazines, children’s pictures, colourful bags and, of course, old wrapping paper can all be great for wrapping. You can also use old fabric to wrap gifts, or even use a fabric which could be part of the gift (or reused again) like a scarf. 

Customise your own wrapping paper

Plain brown paper roll is recyclable and doesn’t contain any hidden plastics. It looks good on its own, but it can be fun and easy to decorate. Here are a few ideas:

• Tie dried orange slices, cinnamon rolls, pinecones, berries and other bits of green foliage to your package using string
• Use stamps (you could even make your own potato stamps!) to decorate the paper
• Make or buy some Christmassy templates/stencils or use a technique like paint splattering to make the paper extra festive

Eco wrapping accessories

The pictures on old Christmas cards make great gift tags – simply cut them out and use a hole punch to make a hole in them to tie string to. 

Plastic sticky tape isn’t recyclable and, before you put your wrapping paper in the recycle bin, it ideally needs to be removed and put in the waste bin. The best alternative to plastic tape is gummed paper tape. You can find lots of patterned eco tapes too, but check they are made of paper and don’t contain added plastics. 

Throwing a (more eco) party

If you’re having people round over Christmas and considering buying new things for your gathering, you may be able to borrow what you need from the Library of Things. Hire charges are usually for between 2-7 days. These are some of the things available for hire:

• Disco light / glitter ball
• Candy floss maker
• Party kit
• Air mattress
• Drinking glasses
• Chocolate fountain
• Chocolate cocktail drinks maker
• Fairy lights
• Gazebo
• Ice bucket
• Portable DJ speaker
• Table clothes
• Water boiler urn

Make sustainable fashion choices

Hire your party clothes

Buying a Christmas party outfit that gets worn once can be a thing of the past now that hiring clothes is gaining in popularity. One of the great things about hiring a Christmas party outfit is that you can go for something sparkling and eye-catching without having to worry about how much wear you’ll get out of it after the festive period. There are lots of online outlets that rent party and special occasion clothes. Possible options include John Lewis (womenswear and menswear), Baukjen, Hurr (rent, lend, and buy), and One Hit Wonders.

Buy your Christmas jumper second-hand

Novelty jumpers are an easy impulse purchase at Christmas time, but why not save some money and be more sustainable too by buying one second-hand. You’ll find all the usual buying sites like Vinted, Depop, Facebook Marketplace, and eBay have lots available in the run-up to Christmas. 

Another way to make your Christmas jumper more sustainable is to make your own. Take an old plain jumper and decorate it with baubles or create your own design out of buttons or similar. Pinterest has some brilliant ideas.

The problem with sequins and glitter

Christmas is the season of sequins and glitter, but both are damaging to the environment. They are generally made of plastic with a reflective metallic coating and, once disposed of, can remain in the environment for centuries, possibly fragmenting into smaller pieces over time and polluting waterways.

The charity Oxfam surveyed 2,000 British women in 2019 and 40% said they would buy a sequined piece of clothing for the festive season. However, only a quarter were sure they would wear it again.

Christmas can still be bright and cheerful without the microplastics, so whether you’re buying clothing, cards or wrapping paper, try to steer clear of sequins and glitter for a really eco Christmas.