So it’s finally that time of year again when we hear nothing but Mariah Carey, eat nothing but pigs in blankets and think about nothing but the true meaning of Christmas…presents! But, what we often fail to remember is that the masses of wrapping paper that your mum spends all morning picking up off the living room floor also has a huge impact on the environment.
Every year in the UK, we throw away 227,000 miles of Christmas paper which is enough to circle the world 9 times! If chopping down 50,000 trees to make all of this paper wasn’t enough, once it has been dyed and laminated to make the wrapping paper we find in the shops, it can no longer be recycled and just goes to waste.
With all this in mind, I wanted to introduce you to some of the many creative and sustainable ways that you can keep your pressies festive without harming the environment.
1. Potatoes can be more than just roasted at Christmas
Get ready to transport yourself back to year 1 and get stuck into some potato printing!
All you need for this fun activity is some brown paper, potatoes and paint. Keep it simple and stick to basic Christmas tree silhouettes or go all out Neil Buchanan and try these cute little penguin designs (pictured).
Making your own wrapping paper is definitely a more time-consuming approach to sustainability, but it could be a great activity to do with younger siblings or cousins who you’ve not seen for months whilst living at uni. To finish the look, try tying twine instead of metallic ribbons into a bow around the gifts!
2. Furoshiki
‘Furoshiki’ is the Japanese art of fabric wrapping. My thinking behind this is that a standard present for mums; grandmas; and aunties (basically most women in the family) is a nice scarf. So why not use this scarf to wrap whichever other textbook presents (i.e. chocolates, candles etc) you’re giving them this Christmas?
Just make sure the scarf is square when laid flat and not long and thin or the folding won’t work! I know it looks tricky at first but, as with most things these days, watching a few ‘YouTube’ tutorials will have you feeling like a pro in no time. And perhaps the extra effort you’ve gone to in wrapping the present will make up for the fact it’s pretty much the exact same thing you got her last year…
3. Get creative
Even though it’s Christmas, most of us still have deadlines and exams to come back to in January. With this in mind, I’d understand if you’d rather spend time studying than teaching yourself ancient Japanese art forms. Nonetheless, that’s still no excuse to unnecessarily increase the size of your carbon footprint! Instead, why not try using other types of recyclable paper and decorations that most families have lying around the house?
Find some festive themed articles in the newspaper; use that as your wrapping paper; and decorate with a red fabric ribbon (start saving these from presents you get given!). Or, if you wanted, you could even cut some small branches from the Christmas tree (obviously, don’t do this if it’s artificial) and attach those with sting for a rustic look.
Just spending a little bit of time collecting Christmassy themed items and getting creative with them can really help to reduce the amount of waste we create this year!