Have yourself a sustainable little Christmas

Christmas shopping doesn’t have to cost you an arm and a leg. There are plenty of ways to save money and the environment when it comes to gift-giving.

You can avoid purchasing items at Christmas time by doing the following:

• do an audit of what you already have – around the home, in your wardrobe, and the pantry
• don’t impulse buy
• ask yourself, do you want or need this product?
• consider if you can clean or fix a broken product and bring it back to ‘new’
• focus on quality rather than quantity as better quality products will generally last longer
• organise a Secret Santa with your friends and/or family to reduce the amount of gifts.

Sustainable gift ideas to spread the Christmas cheer:

• A class, course or workshop such as a cooking, painting, pottery, guitar or golf lesson.
• An experience rather than a material gift for memories they will never forget, like a massage or spa day, a concert or a skydive.
• Use your culinary skills to make homemade food or drink such as cookies, slices, relishes or pickles. Food is the way to everyone’s heart.
• A membership to a conservation organisation, including magazines, discounts and other member benefits.
• A bird bath or frog hotel to attract local native wildlife to their garden.
• A composting system to nourish their garden all year round.
• A native tree or plant for a gift that keeps on giving, attracting birds, wildlife and pollinators to their garden.

To avoid Christmas gift wrapping paper going into landfill because it isn’t recyclable, choose options that can be recycled, while still being beautiful and budget friendly. 

Some waste-free wrapping ideas include:

• reusable Christmas stockings or sacks under the tree
• wrapping gifts in newspaper, brown craft paper or place them in a box
• reuse wrapping paper or gift bags you have received from others
• soy wax or bees wax wraps
• learn the art of Furoshiki (Japanese fabric wrapping)
• use compostable and recyclable wrapping paper.

Rather than buy a new outfit, you could shop for clothing at second-hand or hire stores. You could also attend or host a festive clothes swap, where your friends, family or community members exchange garments, so you all have a new outfit to wear at Christmas.

Did you know that the average Australian household throws away 265kg of food waste each year, costing more than $2,500 per year? Check out The Great Unwaste on their top tips to help reduce food waste over this festive period: Welcome to The Great Unwaste - Let's turn food waste around.

Tips to avoid sending leftover food into landfill include:

• Consider what you are cooking and who you are cooking for. 

• Make your list and check it twice. Audit your pantry, fridge and freezer, write a list and stick to it when shopping.

• Join the leftovers revolution, or repurpose your food leftovers by creating new dishes.

• Eat the older items first - remember first in, first out! To help with this, you can have a 'use it up' shelf in your fridge. Get your "Use it up' tape from Oz Harvest. 

• Save onion skins, carrot tops, potato peels and other food scraps while cooking to create an amazing broth, perfect for making gravy and sauces.

• If you generate food waste, compost bins, worm farms and bokashi bins are a great way to avoid sending it to landfill.  

• Buy local food and try to grow your own. Check out Grow it Local or visit your closest Community Garden. 

A sustainable Christmas can still include the fun traditions you enjoy by finding better alternatives for the environment so that we can continue spreading the festive cheer.
Suggestions for sustainable Christmas alternatives include:

View waste as a last resort and check how some common Christmas items should be disposed:

• General waste bin – plastic Christmas tree, non-recyclable wrapping paper (laminated, dyed, contains glitter, metal or plastic), tinsel, bones and seafood remnants.
• Recycling bin – plain or printed wrapping paper, cards, cardboard gift boxes (flatten first), wine bottles (no lids).
• Garden organics bin – real Christmas tree.

For speciality items:

• Take batteries to a designated drop off point in shops such as Coles, Woolworths and the City of Joondalup Libraries and administration building.
• Save beer bottles and cans and return to your nearest Containers for Change drop-off point or recycling bin (no lids).
• Try to sell, donate or reuse textiles, or put into the general waste bin.

Items going into the recycling bin should be clean and loose (not bagged). Remember, your bin shouldn’t weigh more than 70kg.

High festive spirits don’t have to mean a high carbon footprint or high bills.

You can lower your carbon footprint at Christmas with the following tips:

• Consider sustainable transport options over the holidays, such as walking, riding your bike, catching public transport or car-pooling to Christmas gatherings.
• Reduce your energy bills by turning off Christmas lights when they aren’t needed, and opt for LED bulbs or solar-powered lights. 
• Everyone can do their bit to reduce water use in the home and garden. Nourish your plants by turning your festive food into nutrients with worm farming, composting and Bokashi bins.
• Consider choosing more sustainable ingredients, for example, turkey has a lower carbon footprint than beef, and vegetarian options are usually more sustainable than meat.