Celebrating a Holiday The Eco-Friendly Way

People need to be more conscious of the consequences of their actions, particularly in their daily activities that greatly impact the environment. One of these is continuous usage of plastic products. Humankind already sees the negative effects of the continuing demand for plastic products. Effects include marine animals being poisoned from the toxins in plastic. Also, some diseases and ailments can be attributed to harmful waste chemicals of plastic manufacturing industries. Hence, cutting down on plastic usage is a significant step in becoming eco-friendly. The best way to start is through your holiday celebrations.

Give Repurposed Presents

Marketing strategies and advertisements inculcate the need to buy flashy and expensive gifts to be given during the holiday season. This does not always have to be the case. What better way to show that you care for the environment by leading by example. Apart from consciously giving plastic free gifts, try to wrap up a repurposed gift. While some may not be a fan of the idea of giving and getting repurposed gifts, other people may appreciate it nonetheless. After all, repurposed gifts have that personal touch that can make whoever will receive the gift more special. If you love to sew, why not make a purse out of a shirt that you no longer use?

Use Upcycled Materials to Wrap Presents

Gift giving is a tradition that continues to thrive in this modern time. And why wouldn’t be? Apart from showing love and affection through gifts, giving presents is also a practice that denotes sharing and generosity. However, more wastes are brought in landfills during the holiday season. This can be attributed to the wrappers used to cover these gifts.

Try to use a newspaper or a brown paper and adorn it with real and actual flowers instead of using gift wrappers and ribbons. You can also opt to package your gifts in reusable gift bags. In this way, you will produce a lot less waste.

Shop Local

Apart from being able to support your community’s local businesses, you also indirectly reduce your carbon footprint and air pollution. This is simply because the goods you purchase were not transported from far locations.

Additionally, when shopping locally, you minimize the chance of purchasing a product that comes with a plastic packaging. You can opt to bring your own reusable bag and ditch unnecessary packaging. Whether you are seeking to buy food or gifts, shopping locally is the way to go.

Dispose the Disposable

Another eco-friendly way is to stop using disposable cutlery. It is true that disposable cutlery and dining sets are more convenient, especially for big gatherings. But you need to think of long term impact because most disposable spoons and forks are made of plastics. Why not try to use plastic alternatives such as cutlery and dining sets made from bamboo or even wheat grass. Yes, these are not disposable, but your guests may love them that much to take them home. Alternatively, you can make washing the dishes and cleaning up another bonding activity. Tell each other stories over a cup of coffee while you load the dishes in the dishwasher. This is actually a great eco-friendly way to spend quality time together.

Serve Dishes from Your Backyard

There are already various means to plant your own greens even if you were not lucky enough to have a green thumb. Apart from cutting down the costs of the dishes you will prepare, you are sure that what you will be serving is made from high quality fruits, vegetables, and herbs.

While you do not need to go vegan entirely, you can also cut down on serving meat dishes. This is because meat production also causes severe damage to the environment.

Additionally, make a conscious effort to only prepare food that you and your guests can consume. Hence, this entails the need for you to rigorously plan ahead to reduce food wastes. Nevertheless, there will always be instances of food leftovers. Rather than throwing excess food away immediately, you can get a little more creative and look into recipes that can transform your dish into another food variant.

Final Word

Choosing to eliminate the use of plastics and its derivatives in your daily life can prove to be a challenging feat. Why? Especially if you are already used to the convenience it brings. The success in reducing plastic usage doesn’t happen overnight because it entails a major lifestyle change. Hence, cutting down on the plastic used on major occasions such as holiday celebrations may prove to be more feasible and manageable. It is an eco-friendly way to celebrate your holiday.