How To Have An Eco-Friendly Christmas: The Ultimate Guide

Are you wanting to have a more eco-friendly Christmas? Try my tips on making your day a more sustainable and environmentally friendly one. From the tree and the presents to the food and everything in between.

Christmas waste statistics are terrifying. According to an article in The Independent, in the UK alone we will:

• Bin the equivalent of 108 million rolls of wrapping paper
• Discard 54 million platefuls of food
• Use 189 million batteries over Christmas
• Get through more than 40 million rolls of sticky tape
• Bin almost 100 million black bags full of packaging from toys and gifts
• Seven in 10 households will buy far more food than they need
• And 66% of households will bin at least some of their turkey

However, I’m no Grinch. I am not saying we should cancel Christmas – very much the opposite. Christmas is one of my favourite times of the year, and I am always up for celebrating Christmas with bells on. Personally, I just like to think there are more planet-friendly ways of celebrating during the festive period.

In fact, I’ve been on a mission to show you how to celebrate all things Christmas in sustainable ways. I’ve been blogging here on Moral Fibres for over ten years now. Over the years I have covered a whole host of ideas on how to celebrate in a low-waste and eco-friendly manner. As my Christmas gift to you this year, I’ve rounded them all up here for easy reading.

I’ve also put this post together with my newsletter subscribers in mind so that I don’t spam them with Christmas content in November’s newsletter! I appreciate that not everyone loves Christmas as much as I do, and of course, not everyone celebrates Christmas. Therefore, I felt it best to include one link to all the posts.

If you want to subscribe to the free monthly newsletter, please do sign up here – I promise I’m very thoughtful about what I send out!

The Ultimate Guide To Having An Eco-Friendly Christmas

There are so many different ways to celebrate in a low-impact way this Christmas. As such, I’ve outlined a number of different ways in which you can incorporate sustainable and environmentally friendly practices into your Christmas celebrations.

Of course, you don’t have to do it all. As with anything, it is often easier to start in small steps. Perhaps pick one or two areas to ‘green’ your Christmas this year, and then next Christmas try to incorporate a few more ideas.

I’ve broken it all down into headings to get you started. Click on each link to skip to a specific heading or keep scrolling for the full list of sustainable ideas.

• Eco-Friendly Christmas Tree Guide
• Sustainable Christmas Decorations
• Eco Advent Calendars
• Sustainable Christmas Gift Ideas
• Eco-Friendly Christmas Cards
• Green Gift Wrapping
• Festive Ethical Clothing
• Christmas Food & Drink

Christmas Tree

Are you wondering what the most sustainable Christmas tree is? I’ve revealed it all in my eco-friendly Christmas tree-buying guide. From buying a real tree to purchasing a fake tree, here’s everything you need to look out for.

Christmas Decorations

I always always say that the most sustainable Christmas decorations are the ones you already own. As such, decorate with your old plastic baubles and tinsel with gleeful abandon. However, if you are looking to replace any of your decorations, here are some ideas for decorations to make, and eco-friendly and ethical Christmas decorations to purchase:

• Here’s how to dry orange slices to make stunning natural garlands.
• If you’ve caught the natural garland bug, then here’s how to make a popcorn garland.
• Here are even more stunning plastic-free and zero-waste Christmas decorations to make.
• You can also try to make these beautiful cardboard Christmas decorations from any excess packaging material.
• Try these eco-friendly alternatives to tinsel for more ways to ditch plastic this Christmas.
• Like to crochet? Here are over 30 Christmas decorations to crochet. Some of them might be a good way to use up the odds and ends of wool from your stash!

If Christmas isn’t Christmas without a cracker to pull, then here’s a guide to eco-friendly and reusable Christmas crackers. If you opt for reusable crackers, I’ve included some ideas of what to fill them with and some great (or terrible, depending on your take!) jokes to put inside them!

And of course, crafting isn’t everyone’s bag. If you’d rather not do any crafting this festive season, then here are some people and planet-friendly eco-friendly, and ethical Christmas decorations to buy.

Guide To Advent Calendars

Count down to Christmas the dairy-free way, with my handy guide to the best vegan advent calendars for kids and grown-ups. Catering for every budget – starting from under £5 – you’ll be sure to find your ideal calendar.

If you’d rather ditch single-use, then here is my guide to the best reusable advent calendars, for counting down to the big day sustainably.

And if you’d rather give back this Christmas, then here’s everything you need to know about taking part in a reverse advent calendar.

Christmas Gifts

It can be a thrill finding or making the perfect gifts for our loved ones. Thankfully there are many ways to embrace eco-friendly gift-giving at Christmas time.

• Giving secondhand gifts might be considered by some as a no-no, but I say it’s important to remember that secondhand does not mean second-best. There are a wealth of ideas of secondhand gift ideas for everyone, that would be a delight to receive. Try my guide to secondhand Christmas gift ideas to help you find the perfect thoughtful and low-impact gift for your loved one.

• Feeling crafty? Try these homemade Christmas present ideas.

• Want to whip up a storm in the kitchen? Then try these edible Christmas gifts to make.

• If you don’t want to give a physical object but still want to give something then try these non-material Christmas gift ideas. From ideas that don’t cost any money to ideas that cost some money such as a trip out, contributing to an activity, memberships, and subscriptions, I have a host of ideas for you.

• If you’d rather give a physical object, then try my big guide to eco-friendly Christmas gift ideas for heaps of ideas.

• As I know just how hard it can be to buy the right gift for teenagers, I’ve also got a specific guide to eco-friendly gift ideas for teens.

• If you’re still unsure what to buy, I always think food is a great thing to gift. Do check out my guides to the best eco-friendly Christmas hampers, the best vegan hampers, and the best vegan Christmas chocolates to help you out.

• Finally, here are some eco-friendly stocking filler ideas – all under £15.

Eco-Friendly Christmas Cards

If forgoing Christmas cards, or sending e-cards are steps too far, then try my guide to the best charity Christmas cards that give back. Some charities have made many careful and considered sustainable and ethical considerations.

Look out for FSC-certified cards printed in Britain and glitter-free cards. I’ve even found cards that can be reused in clever ways and cards that can be planted in your garden.

Eco-Friendly Christmas Gift Wrap

One of my favourite parts of Christmas is taking some time to wrap up my carefully considered gifts. Here are some ideas to do so sustainably and help to reduce waste this Christmas:

• My big guide to eco-friendly gift wrapping ideas and alternatives. From the reusable to the recycled and the recyclable – it is all there! I’ve also got top tips on what to avoid, as sadly, all wrapping paper is not recyclable.
• A handy guide to recyclable Christmas wrapping paper – if you’d rather stick to the traditional route.
• A guide on how to wrap gifts in recycled materials, such as old jumpers repurposed in clever and stylish ways. Trust me on this one!
• How to wrap gifts in fabric. Here you can learn the Japanese art of Furoshiki. It’s a great sustainable alternative to wrapping paper, as the recipient can reuse the fabric or give it back to you for wrapping future gifts.

Festive Ethical Clothing

With all of the festive gatherings and parties that fill our diaries in December, your attention may turn to your wardrobe.

• It’s the season of glitz and glamour, so try my guide to ethical party dresses to help you celebrate sustainably.
• Do also check out my guide to ethical Christmas jumpers, so that you can keep warm in festive sartorial style.

Christmas Food and Drink

Finally, let’s talk about the all-important Christmas food and drink.

• Here are some amazing vegetarian Christmas dinner ideas if you want to ditch the turkey this year, or embrace eating less meat.
• How to reduce food waste at Christmas – from ditching traditions that don’t make sense for your family, to getting friendly with your freezer.
• Here’s how to make cranberry and orange-infused Christmas gin for you or for a gift.
• And finally, here’s where to buy palm oil-free mince pies.

I absolutely adore Christmas. As such, I can always find more to write about, so I don’t plan on stopping here. I’ll add any future posts I write about Christmas here (of which I promise there will be many!), so be sure to pin this post or bookmark it so you can see what’s new here next Christmas.

Have a lovely eco-friendly Christmas!