Our thanks to PeCAN volunteer Amelia Young for these suggestions.
1. Gift something locally produced
Examples include local honey, other food and drinks, or gifts from independent local markets, shops and makers.
One way to go greener with gifts this Christmas is to shop local. This not only helps you to ensure that the items are ethically sourced - and often higher quality - but also removes emissions associated with packaging and transporting the items.
2. Gift homemade items
In spite of its benefits, local gift shopping can get expensive sometimes, so for those wanting to save some money this year, reduce their consumer impact, or even to get their creative juices flowing, a heartfelt handmade gift might be the way to go.
Here are some ideas:
3. Gift an experience
An experience day could get people outdoors or discovering something new, spending time with family and friends, and creating later cherished memories. In this way you can completely avoid fast consumerism and the accumulation of unwanted or unneeded 'things'!
4. Organise a Secret Santa
Going to a big festive gathering with extended family or work colleagues? The stress, and not to mention cost, of choosing gifts for everyone can be daunting. So why not propose a Secret Santa? In this way an exciting secret element can be added to the gifting, which also saves money and reduces the environmental impact.
5. Give eco-friendly cards
Try making your own cards - simple crafting ideas can be found online - and you could have a crafting party with friends and family. Or look for sustainably sourced cards with a Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) mark. This helps ensure the paper has been created using sustainable and ethical measures, and also helps mitigate the 30,000 tons of Christmas cards discarded each year costing around £2.8 million in landfill. Christmas cards from last year can also be repurposed the following year as gift tags!
6. Think about how you wrap it
Simple measures to reduce the volume of discarded Christmas gift wrap might include saving old paper from previous occasions, reusing gift boxes and gift bags or using fabric, via the Furoshiki method, which can also be very beautiful to look at. You can often find textile offcuts in charity and craft shops. Remember that if scrunched up gift wrap unfurls, it probably contains plastic and cannot be recycled. For recyclable paper please remember to remove tags and tape so that it can be successfully processed.
7. Make your own natural decorations
Decorations are often made from plastic or other non-recyclable materials. Using natural materials to make tree decorations and wreaths, or dried orange slice garlands (for example) can be simple alternatives. Also, of course, reusing, swapping, sharing decorations purchased in previous years is a great solution. This will help to reduce the £26 million the UK spends each year disposing of unwanted decorations in landfills and incinerators.
8. Light it up?
Switching to candles, energy efficient LEDs and perhaps solar lights outdoors, might be options to reduce the impacts on energy demand and on our wildlife. Remember to turn lights off when you are not there to appreciate them - and at night - or install a timer.
9. We can’t forget the tree!
There are various options here. You could purchase a reusable tree - in natural materials or recycled plastic - a real cut or potted tree, or even take advantage of a tree rental scheme if you have one nearby - where the tree is lifted out of the ground for Christmas then replaced to continue growing afterwards! If you want to purchase a reusable plastic Christmas tree, pick a high-quality one to ensure that the item will last for at least 10 years. If you choose a living tree, then one that is FSC certified from a sustainably managed, British-grown farm is the best way to go - and of course the more local the better.
Disposing of your tree after the festive season is important too. If it's potted, consider repotting or planting out if you have the space. Many councils collect cut trees to be shredded and used as mulch. Never dump a Christmas tree in nature, they are a non-native species to the UK and this can cause environmental damage.
For a completely different alternative, save yourself the hassle of a tree altogether and decorate a house plant! This is a creative option which is better for those with less space, and saves money.
10. Turning your drinks green
Buying British and even locally produced drinks supports local producers and retailers, and reduces transportation emissions.
11. Make festive plant-based options the centrepiece!
As always, cooking sustainably using seasonal, locally produced ingredients is integral to making sure your Christmas is greener. Cutting back on meat this year with more plant-based dishes is also an excellent way to reduce your carbon footprint, and studies are now showing that this is better for our gut health as well.
12. Love your leftovers
You can reduce the impact of food waste by only buying what you need and avoiding purchasing or producing excessive quantities which (as we secretly know) probably won't be eaten, making delicious leftovers meals such as bubble and squeak, curries, soups and sandwiches, freezing food to be consumed later, and composting whatever you can.
Figures produced by Business Waste estimate that discarded Christmas food amounts to around £444 million each year - you can help to reduce this impact.