How to have a simple Eco Christmas with the whole family

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Christmas time! Its is one of the most important and enjoyable times of the year for the whole family. Especially the kids! However, many of us are finding that the old un-eco friendly way of celebrating Christmas may not sit right. Is is possible to have a simple eco Christmas?

Happily, the answer is yes! There are plenty of tactics you can use to provide a cracking Christmas for the whole family and be kind to the planet at the same time. A topic you can find out more on below. 

Wrapping, and decorations 

Decorating your home and wrapping gifts are all vital parts of the Christmas celebrations. However, what we often do not realise is they create a vast amount of waste, much of which doesn’t quickly biodegrade. 

Of course, the intention here is not to prevent such activities but instead find more environmentally friendly options. For example, getting the kids to make their own Xmas decorations for the home out of recycled material is much better than buying brand new plastic ones.

For example – why not try out our very own printable Decorate your own Christmas tree?

Additionally, using brown paper, rather than the foiled or laminated variety means it can be recycled and will not pollute the environment as it mulches.

Keeping warm and snuggly 

A major part of Christmas for a lot of families is making sure the house is nice and warm, snuggling up under a blanket, and watching a Christmas movie. In fact, each family has its own favourite, often with Elf topping the list!

However, it is vital that when it comes to keeping warm, we do this in the most eco-friendly way possible. Fortunately, you can save a great deal of wasted energy by insulating your home well and making sure any drafts are blocked. You can also switch over to an electric heating system as well. Something that is far more economical. 

You can even make snuggling under a blanket more eco-friendly. All you need to do is pick one made from sustainably sourced natural fibres. Instead of one spun from artificial cloth. Unless its a blanket that has been made from recycled plastic that is! 

Gifts

Gifts are central to the tradition of Christmas. Unfortunately, extreme consumerism isn’t too good for the environment. There are some sensible compromises you can make here too.

The first is to limit the amount and type of gifts you buy. The idea is to go for one or two more expensive items rather than lots of cheap throw-away stuff that will end up in landfills after a few months. 

Additionally, the idea of buying one more expensive toy for the kids and supplementing this with a clothing item, book, and another thing they need can work well. Then the little ones still get quite a few gifts to open, but as a parent, you can spend more on better quality, ecologically sound products. 

Finally, do remember that eco-friendly products, especially practical items make fantastic gifts for any age. With bamboo toothbrush sets, metal drinking straws, and reusable beverage cups being bang on trend for this Christmas.

We’ve got a few ideas to keep Christmas, not just Eco, but loads of fun as well. Why not:

• Print out our fantastic Christmas character lollipop covers,
• Make your own Christmas gift boxes too, we’ve got a really lovely design for you, as well as a blank gift box template for you to do what you want with,
• How about some retro free Christmas wrapping paper as well – this is simple stunning, and a nice alternative to brown paper as well,
• If you need a Santa Stop Here doorhanger – we’ve got one of those too, alongside a Santa plate as well, and
• If you are looking for something a little bit different to pop on the tree, why not try our simple candy cane Christmas tree decoration.

There are a few other Eco ideas out there for Christmas as well – so have a go at some of these too:

• Beauty through Imperfection has a list of ten ways to have a greener Christmas,
• Why not try out this Eco-Friendly snowman activity from Preschool Toolkit, and
• If you didn’t have enough ideas for an econology Xmas by now, then Frugal Mom Eh has got seven more for you!

We hope you agree that there is plenty to keep you busy now on your Eco Christmas this year!

Do sign up to our newsletter and we hope to see you on the site again soon.

Take care,

Helen

Helen

Helen is a mum to two, social media consultant, and website editor; and this site is (we think) the only Social Enterprise parenting magazine!Since giving up being a business analyst when juggling travel, work and kids proved too complicated, she founded KiddyCharts so she could be with her kids, and use those grey cells at the same time.KiddyCharts has reach of over 1.1million across social and the site. The blog works with big family brands (including travel) to help promote their services, as well as offering free resources to parents of kids under 10.It gives 51%+ profits to Reverence for Life, who fund a number of important initiatives in Africa, including bringing running water and basic equipment to a school in Tanzania.Helen has worked as a digital marketing consultant (IDM qualified) with various organisations, including Channel Mum, Truprint, Talk to Mums, and Micro Scooters. She loves to be creative in the brand campaigns she works on.Get in touch TODAY!

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