Christmas is for many a joyful and festive time of year where friends and family come together. Unfortunately, it also often leads to a lot of excess waste being produced. You may have been thinking, how can I reduce the amount of waste produced in my home this Christmas? Well, we have some suggestions for small ways that you can reduce your waste and have a more sustainable Christmas!
You can try one or two, or even all of them!
Food
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- Plan your Christmas dinner and food for the amount of people you’re feeding and try not to overbuy food. Love Food Hate Waste have created a portion planner to help!
- Make use of any leftovers by making them into another meal, here is some recipe ideas to get you started.
- If you do have some food you can’t use up or waste products (e.g., bones or vegetable peelings), make sure they go into your food waste caddies so it will be used for energy creation.
- Looking for some more inspiration to reduce your food waste this year, Love Food Hate Waste has some great tips.
Wrapping
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- Many wrapping papers are not recyclable and when in recycling bags it very difficult to know the difference between recyclable and non-recyclable ones. Therefore, the only wrapping paper that should go in your green bags is brown paper without added extras like metallic bows.
- You could use brown paper and make paper bows or invest in some Christmas stamps to use year after year.
- OR instead of single use wrapping why not make use of re-usable wrapping options like bags or pieces of material.
Presents
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- When choosing presents, you can try and buy items that are in less packaging or recyclable packaging, like cardboard.
- When buying gifts, it is also important that we think about what we are buying, whether it is needed and what would be most appreciated by the recipient. Some fun alternative suggestions are to gift loved one’s experiences or time doing something together.
- If your feeling crafty you could have a go at making some presents for people, maybe bake them something tasty or try some handicrafts.
Decorations
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- Instead of buying all new decorations every year make use of the ones you already have. Making a tradition of putting up the same well-loved decorations every year.
- You could even have a go at making some yourself. A great activity to do as a family or on your own over the Christmas period. There are some ideas here and here.
For more information on the waste services in Cardiff this Christmas follow this link: Christmas in Cardiff
Updated: 06/12/2023
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