10 Tips to Turn Your Next Holiday into an Eco-Friendly Celebration

Planning for the holiday season is always an important thing for us to consider but sometimes, we often ignore the idea that we can be more sustainable when it comes to such joyful celebrations. In reality, we waste a lot of things during the holiday season. From simple gift wrappings to an abundance of leftovers, we fill our landfills with so much waste during the holidays. Having said that, it’s never too late for us to start being more conscious on what we buy and might waste. You can keep this in mind and find ways to reduce the amount of waste you produce during the holidays.

So, without further ado, here are 10 tips that will help you turn the next holiday into an eco-friendly celebration.

Recycle Other Materials for Gift Wrapping

 Even though gift wrappings tend to make presents look amazing, they generally make up most of the things we waste on the holidays. So, in order to reduce paper waste, you can use different recyclable materials such as newspapers, used paper bags and old maps, as gift wrappers. Also, if you’re particularly thinking of gifting your wife something luxurious or romantic, you can also use fabrics or blankets to wrap your gifts for her. To get the more gift ideas, you learn more here.

Use Energy-Saving LED Holiday Lights

LED lighting are generally more energy-saving than incandescent bulbs. So, if you still use older decorative lights, consider upgrading to LED lighting. Not only are they more efficient, but they will also save you a lot more money on your bills.

Support Eco-Friendly & Locally Made Gifts

If you’re going to buy your gifts online, chances are, it’s going to take a lot of carbon footprint to arrive on your doorstop. So, as an alternative, have a look at some local and eco-friendly items that you can gift to your loved ones on the holidays.

Avoid Using Disposable Dishes and Silverware

When you’re trying to host a fairly big party, it’s usually tempting to use disposable dishes and silverware. Although it’s going to make clean up more time-consuming, it’s eco-friendlier to use actual dishes.

Make Use of Leftovers

If you have a beautiful garden in your home, chances are, you also have your own compost bin. EveryDay Health lists composting as one of the most important things that you can do to protect the planet. So, instead of dumping your holiday leftovers to the garbage, you can still use the leftovers to feed your plants. If a compost bin is really not an option for you, you can also give out your leftovers to a local farm or gardener since they may use it for livestock or gardening. you can substantially reduce leftover food waste by carefully planning the amount of food you’re going to eat on the holidays.

Reuse Old Holiday Decorations

In order to save money and reduce all kinds of waste, you should also consider reusing some old holiday decorations. make it a habit to set aside a small space or box to store your holiday decorations. However, make sure to store them carefully. 

Buy Local and Organic Food

 Another great way to minimize your carbon footprint is to buy your veggies, fruits, meat, and other holiday needs from local farms. Colombia University has found that using farmer’s markets and other sources of local food can lower your carbon emissions by up to 5%. Besides addressing your consumption for the holiday season, buying local and organic food is also beneficial for the community.

Invite Others to Your Celebration

Celebrating the holiday season together with your close friends or family is a great way of saving energy and other kinds of waste. Moreover, celebrating with the people you love and care the most will make your holiday season truly memorable!

Give Experiences instead of Material Gifts

Instead of giving material things to your loved ones, a better and more eco-friendly alternative you can do is to treat them to a fun and exciting experience! Almost any new experience will do as a gift to your loved ones. Whether it’s a simple cooking class or a daring activity like rock climbing, what’s important is that you’re spending some quality time together with your loved ones while being friendly to the environment.

Consider Handcraft and DIY Gifts

There are a lot of different ways to minimize your carbon footprint when giving holiday gifts. You can make a bunch of homemade gifts from all sorts of DIY kits that you can buy in stores or online. From homemade ornaments to handmade soaps, your gift idea is only limited by your imagination. If you’re clueless as to what you can do, there are a lot of ideas you can look at from Pinterest.

Conclusion

There are other different ways we can do in order to be more sustainable or eco-friendly during the holiday season. Although it’s quite impossible that our plans for the holidays won’t result to any waste, we can at least try our best to do what we can for our environment. It only takes a little of our effort and time to reduce the waste we make during the holiday season. Enjoy your holidays! We hope our list will help you plan an eco-friendlier celebration.