· 1. The key to reducing waste is to plan ahead. This is especially true when it comes to food. Incredibly, a third of food that’s bought for Christmas is wasted. Don’t fall into the trap – follow tips from the Love Food, Hate Waste website here.
· 
2. No matter how waste-aware you are, it’s hard to avoid some degree of food waste. One of the best gifts you can give someone is the opportunity to turn that waste into free home-made compost. At Christmas a composter truly comes into its own; composting is recycling at its most natural, turning organic waste into nutritious soil food in the spring. A composter also frees you from the annual seasonal headache of storing growing piles of bin bags while awaiting the first refuse collection in January.
Never a good start to the New Year!
· 3. If Christmas isn’t Christmas for you without cards, then buy with an eye on recyclability. This means avoiding cards decorated with glitter, foil, ribbon, cellophane etc that can’t be recycled. Support small businesses who have taken the Naked Cards pledge. This is a campaign by designers and illustrators to stop wrapping cards in cellophane. Cellophane is a single-use plastic that takes a long time to degrade completely in landfill. ‘Naked’ cards are either sold in paper bags or with small peelable stickers keeping card and envelope together.
· 4. Christmas cards also make great free decorations. Beautiful cards are small, cheap works of art. Why would you throw them out each year? There are great designs online that show how you can arrange or display your cards.
· 5. Save your stamps – including new or used, first or second-class and foreign – for charities. Stamps are sold by weight so the more the better for raising much-needed funds. Cut the stamp off the envelope making sure to leave roughly 1cm of envelope bordering the stamp.
· 6. Did you know it’s possible to ‘borrow’ Christmas? The rental market has expanded dramatically for this time of year. As well as clothes you can also rent toys and bikes and, if you’re expecting an influx of guests, you can rent tables, sofas and even table decorations.
· 7. Pre-loved gifts, as we now call second-hand items, are especially appreciated by the eco-conscious young. As well as online or charity shop bargains, look out for church or school fairs throughout the year – these can be great places to find gift-worthy donations.
· 8. Use reusable crackers – (keepthiscracker.com) – These crackers slot together for you to fill yourself and they can be used year after year. In reviews, customers say they are easy to put together, a good size to fit things in and the designs look good on the festive table. This is also a fun activity to do with children, especially if you write your own jokes! All you have to buy new is the snaps that make the bang. You can also get low-noise snaps for those who don’t like loud noises.
· 9. Buy ethically – Look for gifts made from sustainable materials, such as organic cotton, bamboo, hemp and recycled materials. Cards that contain seeds in the paper are a lovely idea – you plant the card in a garden with just a bit of water and it grows into flowers (eco-friendlycards.com). Support small businesses and charities that prioritise sustainable ethical practices.
· 10. Can you sew, knit, cook, bake, draw, grow or make stuff? If cash is tight and you have a skill, then create your own gifts. It’s a way of saving money but no one can argue that you haven’t made an effort. If you make sweets or edible treats try to save interesting containers throughout the year to present them in. (This is especially good for pupils to give to teachers). Or you could offer your time in the form of baby-sitting, car washing or gardening.
· 
11. Consider vouchers or tickets for an experience the person would appreciate, such as beauty treatments, guitar lessons, meals out, concert tickets.
· 12. We’ll sign off for Christmas with the most important tip: focus on what matters.
You don’t have to dial everything up to the max just because that’s what the adverts show. Remember that behind every smiling cook serving 28 ecstatic guests is an ad director shouting, ‘Pretend you’re having fun!’
However you choose to spend Christmas, just enjoy it in your own way. It’s allowed.
