Posted by I sat this morning watching the news and saw David Attenborough on there again saying it’s time for action. I wondered what else I could do – we already have an electric car, solar panels on the roof, bar soap and shampoo, reusable water bottles and refillable coffee cups, don’t use cling film… so we are doing our bit.
My idea this morning was to make this Christmas our greenest ever and share my plans with you to hopefully inspire you to adopt one or 2 of our ideas. Here goes….
Advent Calendars
I bought this one, a <a href="http://<a href="https://tidd.ly/3vOpxRs" target="_blank" rel="sponsored">Seed CalendarSeed Advent Calendar last year for my son’s in-laws. Nothing wasted and all recyclable too. My family bought me a Tea Advent Calendar 2 years ago which again had no plastic, and I found it great fun tasting the brew of the day. I even found a new after dinner favourite. Highly recommended. Our children all had a dairy intolerance problem as children. We got away with traditional cardboard advent calendars with pictures for a while then moved to a reusable one with pockets – which is now in use for our grandson. I hope it doesn’t sound too Scrooge-like but I don’t like the idea of the children having chocolate or sweets every day, so I used to fill the pockets with pencils and rubbers instead. I’ve also just spotted this which I think would raise the excitement in the run up to Christmas. This Santa Staircase Advent Calendar is made in the UK by a small business with lots of stars, so I’m really tempted! Grown ups can have advent calendars, right?
Wrapping
Last year, I made some reusable fabric gift bags which shortened the wrapping process by hours! If you’re handy with a sewing machine – run some up. If not, these look great value, good quality bags and if you use these for family presents you will have them to use again next year! If you’d rather stick to wrapping paper, make sure that your paper is recyclable and preferably already recycled. The designs are getting so much better and you no longer need to wrap in brown Kraft paper to be eco-friendly. Check out this paper which is printed with holly, this one with Santa on or, if you fancy going a bit upmarket, this white paper is made of recycled silk! I also want to go one step further this year and buy some eco-friendly tape. I really like this one – which is not too expensive – or this one, which is Christmassy enough but also fine to use afterwards for birthday wrapping.
Decorations
In the olden days (when I was a kid) we used to make paper chains for decorations and I think that’s a good eco way to go. I used to love going to the shop to buy that solid, tiny wedge of paper pieces which then magically turned into a huge, lightweight, airy garland. I’m thrilled to find you can buy them in an eco-friendly version, with Christmas puddings on white paper, Christmas trees on white, snowflakes on brown kraft paper, or stags on brown too. Which is great if you are short on time. But why not buy a couple of stamps and make your own? These tiny stamps would be perfect for paperchains and you can use them over and over again! I’m absolutely in love with these seed paper gift tags, and off to buy some in a few minutes. I love the idea that they can be planted and grow wildflowers in the spring! I’m also going to buy these Christmas cards which are also on seed paper and feature fun wildlife.
Anyway, I’m getting right in the Christmas Spirit writing this, so I’m off to do some shopping!
The links I’ve included are from small businesses on Etsy.UK. If you go on to buy any of the items the shop owners will be doing a little happy dance because they are supporting their families and Mud Larks might get a small commission.
Mud Larks 