Eco Thursdays: Christmas

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In this week’s Eco Thursday email, Sasha gives us some of her top tips for the festive season.

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(Season’s) greetings, my baubles,

Happy 17 days until Christmas – if you celebrate it, of course. Ah, yes, the sweet smell of mince pies in the air mixing with the wild commercialisation of a family-based traditional experience as a reflection of an increasingly consumerist society…

But I digress. We are here to celebrate the holidays, the epitome of breaking-and-entering (Santa), the ability to wrap presents shaped like cylinders or trapeziums, and the random vegetables that only see the light of Sainsbury’s for one week in the year (Brussels Sprouts and Parsnips). We are also gathered here today, in the final Eco Thursday of 2022, to consider how we can make Christmas a more sustainable venture – for entertainment purposes, I’ve presented the ideas as primetime ads.

Let’s sleigh the day away! (sorry.)

  1. Does your wrapping paper just keep ripping every time you try to wrap a present?! Well, fear not, because you can save yourself the time spent meticulously taping the edges together by wrapping the presents in fabric (like scarves or jumpers) or old newspapers (which you can also read whilst waiting to open the presents).
  2. Does your Christmas tree keep shedding, because it has an identity crisis and thinks it’s a long-haired cat?! Consider renting a tree in a pot, so it stays alive during the festivities, looking as stunning at the start of December as it would for the rest of the year!!!
  • Rent trees here (a lot of places are sold out this year, but you can sign up for 2023).
  1. Are you sick and tired of the strange toys in Christmas Crackers? A mini Connect4?! I’d rather play Scrabble. Get recycled or reusable crackers – some are made of linen, some you can fill yourself, some have chocolate instead of plastic keychains. Discover the festive collection here.
  2. Is it Boxing Day, and there’s still half a Waitrose full of food in the fridge? Here are two links with (no joke) 92 recipes between them, so you can make EVEN MORE FOOD (but also use up leftovers). If you don’t find a single recipe you like, I’m afraid there’s no hope for you anymore.
  3. Did you sibling ask you for some non-descript clothing item for Christmas? Forcefully tell them: “NO.” Then, proceed to show them an ad for Vinted, explain why charity shops are Heaven on Earth and take them to a kilo sale (e.g. in Camden, because you’re edgy and you know it). Also, go to Traid (second-hand vintage store meets charity shop).

With all these ideas in mind, I hope you have a wonderfully festive holiday and for 2023 to come before Elon Musk explodes the Twitter Headquarters <3 (because he never fails to surprise us).

All the bestest,

Mariah Carey