The 12 Environmentally Friendly Days of Christmas
Reduce your impact on the environment this Christmas with our eco friendly tips that take you from Christmas Day right up to the Twelfth Night, with low impact ways to celebrate, ways to reuse and recycle your decorations, sustainable swaps and more.
On the 1st Day of Christmas, make sure you recycle! ♻️
We are left with lots of rubbish over the festive period, make sure you recycle as much as you can, including your tree when you take it down, cards, wrapping paper and packaging that can’t be reused.
On the 2nd Day of Christmas, donate unwanted items. 📦
Sometimes you get gifts you don’t need or can’t use, you want to make space for new items you got, or you just want to have a good clear out over the festive period. Look to donate your unwanted items, from charity shops to FreeCycle services, there are many options.
On the 3rd Day of Christmas, re-use your wrap, cards, tags and bits ‘n’ bobs. 🏷️
Cards, gift wrap, tags and ribbon can be saved and re-used if in good condition. Use them to make decorations, cards and tags for next Christmas! Anything which can’t be re-used can be recycled!
On the 4th Day of Christmas, reduce your food waste. 🍗
Christmas can be a time of overindulgence if you have made too much food to eat or bought more than you need, but make sure you don’t waste it by throwing it away. Make leftover meals, freeze extras and if you have lots of tins and jars left, donate them to a food bank.
On the 5th Day of Christmas, pay it forward. ☕ ❤️
A good way to start the new year is by paying it forward! Buy someone behind you a coffee, help the local community with a clean-up, or start the new year by donating blood. When you pay it forward it encourages the recipient to do it too, so the process continues.
On the 6th Day of Christmas, off-set your carbon footprint. 👣
Christmas can cause your carbon footprint to increase, especially if you buy more than you normally would or have to travel to see family. However, there are a few ways you can offset this, such as calculating your Carbon Footprint and looking at where you can reduce. Also, choose an offset project where you can help others globally. You can also look at shopping local for your food and donating money to causes which help reduce environmental impact.
On the 7th Day of Christmas, enjoy your Christmas decorations all year long. 🎄
It can seem such waste only using your festive decorations just once a year. Why not keep some out all year long to add some sparkle to your home decor. Fairy lights can add a touch of warmth to a room and don’t look out of place all year round. You could use outdoor lights to decorate your garden as well, as you can keep them in all year long for some fun. And tea lights can help you set a relaxed atmosphere, so don’t pack them away either.
On the 8th Day of Christmas, help charities. 🎽
Set yourself some goals to help others in 2020? Look to see what you can help in the local area, volunteering your time. Or if you’ve set yourself a challenge for the new year, can you make it a charity resolution such as running a 5k or 10k and raising money. And if you still find yourself with too much stuff, donate unwanted items to charity this year.
On the 9th Day of Christmas, plant a tree! 🌳
2019 was the year where lots of influencers made a goal to plant a million trees; carry this on into the new year to encourage more to be planted. Find a local scheme you can get involved in, or if you can, plant a tree in your garden!
On the 10th Day of Christmas, make sure your home is eco-friendly. 🌡️
Check your bulbs; if any need replacing, use energy-saving light bulbs. Watch your heating temperature and try not to turn it up too much, instead set at a lower constant heat and add an extra layer of clothing if you’re feeling chilly. Finally, make sure all new appliances you get have high energy efficiency ratings.
On the 11th Day of Christmas, get crafting. ✂️
Everyone seems to end up with an abundance of Christmas cards, however, don’t bin them. Get crafting and make your Christmas 2020 cards from 2019 ones, by adding bits from them onto plain cards. Smaller bits can be made into tags and Christmas decorations.
On the 12th Day of Christmas, shop local. 🛒
In 2020 aim to shop as much as you can local, reducing the environmental footprint of products and your own journey as well as helping local and independent businesses as much as you can.
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