If you haven't seen our first handy tips to make your Christmas more sustainable, you can check them out here. Otherwise, read on for more tips to having a greener Christmas:

3. ‘One man’s trash is another man’s treasure

Next, let’s tackle the mountains of jars, bottles, wrapping paper, cards and unwanted gifts....

Don’t throw these away without thinking – can you use any next year for gifts and decorations?
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There are heaps of ways to reuse your empty jars and bottles. How about: creating a herb planter, a soap dispenser, stylish pillar candle holders, terrariums, flower jars or serving your trifles or cocktails in a jar ready for summer 2022. Even the lids can be used on their own as bird feeders!

Next up, the scrunch test! Wrapping paper. It is estimated that the UK throws away 108 million rolls of wrapping paper each year. All those things that make wrapping paper a bit fancy – the dyes, the glitter, the plastic – mean it’s not recycling friendly. And if it has Sellotape attached, no chance.

​A good way to tell if it can be recycled is, peel off any remaining tape, and try to scrunch it. If it stays scrunched, it can be recycled – yippeee!
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If it springs back then it means the paper contains foil.  Maybe instead of binning all your wrapping paper, you could reuse some of it for next year’s gifts? That’s a wrap! (sorry, couldn’t help ourselves).

Many items, especially gifts for kids need batteries. But the only thing you can do with used batteries is take them to a battery recycling collection facility in your area.  How about purchasing rechargeable batteries on your next shop? Saves you a trip to the recycling bin and saves waste!

​It’s now also time to take down Christmas cards, which is a bit sad. The UK throws approximately 1.5 billion Christmas cards away, which is enough to stretch from London to Lapland and back, 103 times!

​Put another way, one tree makes 3,000 Christmas cards…yes that is sadly a lot of trees. But you could repurpose your Christmas cards as gift tags for next year! And perhaps you could consider sending e-cards next year instead. Look at our selection.

Ahh that awkward part of Christmas, all those well-meant gifts that you just don’t know what to do with, let alone where to put them.

​Approximately, £4 billion is spent on unwanted gifts, equivalent to 4.8 million tonnes of CO2, each year. Why not keep your unwanted gifts and re-gift them the following year/secret santa (cheeky we know!) or give any unwanted gifts to your local charity? Maybe arrange a community gift exchange?

For unwanted Christmas decorations, your best bet is to give them to your nearest charity shop. This will make someone else’s holiday season brighter next year. Unfortunately, baubles, tinsel and beads are largely unrecyclable, mainly because of the glitter (the season’s favourite microplastic), plastic and mixture of materials used within these items. So, if these are damaged, the only way to dispose of them is through landfill.

Why not start making your own Christmas decorations next year out of recyclable items?

Christmas lights are also unrecyclable, but some local authorities will provide special collection bins for these small electricals. If your lights are no longer working, just check first the fuse, the tightness of each bulb and whether it’s just one bulb that’s needing to be changed, then check out online how to fix it.

If you do still need to bin those lights, make sure to purchase low-impact, energy-conscious LED lights next year to help save the pennies and last twice as long, whilst also using 90% less energy.

Wreaths, on the other hand, are biodegradable once you remove all the artificial decorations and it isn’t too covered in glitter. Which means you can either pop this onto your compost heap or alternatively add some straw, dried grass, sheep’s wool, pet hair, feathers (all of which you may find on your travels or walking trails) and incorporate it into your wreath before sticking it out on a tree in the garden for the birds to find when breeding season starts again in February.

4. Happy New Year!

​Making sustainable changes, especially during the Christmas period, is challenging. If you’re feeling a little eco-anxious at what seems like mammoth consumerism and waste - remember that every little sustainable change you make, no matter how small, is progress!

Instead of feeling guilty for the over-consumption or influx of cards or presents still coming through the door, give yourself a pat on the back for the changes you have made since a year or two ago. Kudos to you! And remember to celebrate your small sustainable victories in some way – maybe with a posh biccie or two!

The team at JUST ONE Tree want to wish you the very best and happiest New Year!