Have a Sustainable Christmas!

Posted on December 1st, 2022

It’s nearly Christmas!

Did you know the amount of waste we go through in Australia is increased by 30% at Christmas?

To dive into that a bit deeper:

  • We go through 150,000km of wrapping paper at Christmas (that’s enough paper to go around Australia six times!)
  • Aussies receive over 20 million unwanted gifts at Christmas!
  • 90% of Aussies usually discard over 25% of their food during the festive season!
    … and we all know Aussies love a cold drink at Christmas, so imagine how many cans and bottles we go through!

But don’t worry there’s no need to channel the Grinch and cancel Christmas this year, we can help you have a merry sustainable Christmas!

Here’s a list of tips and tricks from our FBA staff!

FBA Staff Christmas Party!
  • Keep a box of fabric, scarves or newspaper to wrap presents
  • Add a tea towel to your gift and use it as wrapping paper
  • Don’t buy new decorations – visit your local op shop or create your own biodegradable decorations (Some of FBA’s staff use gum leaves, clay decorations and other biodegradable items)
  • Re-use your Christmas tree
  • Secret Santa! This means everyone gets one gift each instead of one from everyone
  • Pre-plan your Christmas lunch so there are no double-ups to help reduce waste
  • Have a Christmas Dinner instead so you don’t need to run the airconditioning cooking lunch
  • Solar Christmas lights or lights on a timer (or no lights at all, the turtles will thank you!)
  • Use fresh produce from your garden, family and friends’ gardens or a local market
  • No imported seafood – visit your local fish market or fisherman friend
  • Have a compost and recycling bin ready to go
  • Collect cans and bottles to take to your local containers for change (and donate the proceeds to a local charity)
  • No disposables (cutlery and dishes etc.)! Get everyone involved to help do the dishes instead
  • Don’t use Christmas cards, they usually get thrown away. Send a virtual card or email instead
  • Save your leftovers in the freezer
  • Thrift or upcycle gifts
  • Gift experiences
  • No bad presents! If the person isn’t likely to keep the gift it’s better to go with a voucher or no gift.
  • Visit your local markets to support local
  • Shop from companies that use biodegradable packaging
  • Gift plants!
  • Reduce plastic by creating your Christmas tree and decorations! Upcycle timber palettes, use driftwood, or even a eucalyptus branch!
  • Use pages from old books to fold, cut and glue to make beautiful handmade decorations
  • Dehydrate thin slices of orange in the oven – low and slow – to make fragrant garlands instead of ‘terrible tinsel’
  • Make a DIY voucher book – give the gift of your time for things like helping in the garden, painting a room, cleaning the windows or dog sitting
  • Ditch the bonbons filled with plastic rubbish! Have each guest send their silly joke before the big day, write them on paper, tie them with a piece of string and a eucalyptus leaf for decoration, and place the, on the table at each place setting

More?