Christmas, a season of joy and giving, can also be a time of increased waste and environmental impact.

In the UK, Christmas consumption habits cause a dramatic spike in the amount of waste being produced. Every year, the festive waste we throw away is staggering, including: 290,000 tonnes of card packaging, 125,000 tonnes of plastic, 4,200 tonnes of foil, 1 billion Christmas cards, 227,000 miles of wrapping paper, 270,000 tonnes of food waste, 6 million Christmas trees, and 33 million advent calendars.

Making conscious choices about materials and recycling can significantly reduce this impact, ensuring our festive celebrations are both merry and environmentally friendly.

Gift Wrap and Bags

Choosing recyclable wrapping paper, gift bags, and tags, avoiding those with plastic film or metallic elements, can be a great way to mitigate your environmental footprint.

Shiny wrapping paper and sparkling gift bags might look nice under your tree, but it can make handling these materials sustainably a nightmare. Using environmentally friendly options, such as those made from kraft paper, makes them very easy to recycle and keeps them out of landfill.

To go that next step, using natural decorations like holly and reusable options like cardboard gift boxes and ribbons reduces your impact on the environment even further.

Recycling Tips for Wrapping Paper

Post-Christmas, use the ‘scrunch test’ to identify recyclable paper. After tearing open your Christmas presents, scrunch the paper into a ball; if it stays in a ball, this usually means it is good to go in your recycling. However, if it bounces back open, chances are it’s not recyclable.

Always remove the sticky tape from paper before recycling, and reusing gift wrap where possible not only saves natural resources but will save you money as well.

Gift and Food Packaging

All your cardboard packaging waste can be recycled, but again it is important to remove any sticky tape, metal staples, and non-recyclable inserts before placing it in your recycling bin. Your glass bottles and jars are easily recyclable after a quick rinse; there’s no need for you to remove any labels, but taking the lids off will make the recycler’s job a lot easier. Your tin foil waste, including those foil casings from all your mince pies, can be recycled too, just give it a quick clean and scrunch it into ball.

Christmas Crackers

Most supermarkets will stock recyclable Christmas crackers, and choosing these options over the shiny plastic-coated ones will go a long way towards reducing your impact on the environment. Another great option that can also make for a fun family activity with the kids is making your own home-made crackers.

There are many easy-to-follow tutorials online (such as this one); just make sure you use all recyclable materials, and you have yourself a fun, sustainable activity for the whole family.

Christmas Trees and Decorations

When getting rid of your old artificial trees, you have a lot of great sustainable options to go to before landfill. If your tree is in good enough condition, you can sell it online; this way, the tree finds itself a new home and you get some cash to help cover the cost of all the presents, food, and drinks you had to buy.

You could also look for places in your local community to donate your tree to. You may find a local charity, school, hospital/hospice, nursery, care home, or other such place in need of a Christmas tree just like the one you’re trying to get rid of. They may be able to take all the other old decorations you don’t want as well.

If you’re unable to sell the tree or find a new home for it, then you can look for local recycling centres that will take it. You can also find local recycling centres that will take the other Christmas decorations you no longer need, such as all those boxes of fairy lights you’ve got sitting in the cupboard.

If you’re looking for ways to reduce your plastic consumption even further, you can make your own plastic-free Christmas decorations. The possibilities are endless, and this way also allows you to have your own unique decorations that no one else can buy (click here for inspiration).

Christmas Cards

No one will deny that a glittery Christmas card looks beautiful, but all that sparkle comes at a cost to the environment. Cards covered in glitter or coated in plastic can’t be recycled, so making sure to buy recyclable Christmas cards helps to conserve natural resources, reduce carbon emissions, and prevent pollution.

Just as with the Christmas crackers and decorations, you also have the option to make your own home-made Christmas cards for another fun family activity. Just make sure you’re using all recyclable materials and that you don’t stick any glitter or plastic to the cards.

Christmas Clothing

If you’re getting bored of wearing the same Christmas jumper every year, there’s no need to just throw it in the bin. You have a variety of more environmentally friendly options available to you; you can sell the unwanted items online, you can donate them to charity – there are charity services that will collect your old clothes from your home for free with next day pick up – or you can take them to local textiles recycling points.

By choosing recyclable materials and being mindful of how we dispose of our festive waste, we can significantly reduce our environmental impact this Christmas. Let’s make our celebrations not only joyful but also kind to the planet.

For any businesses with large quantities of Christmas waste that want to find the most sustainable and profitable, outlets for these materials, create your free WasteTrade account today and start trading.