Merry Christmas everyone. It is one of the most awaited and cherished time of the year. But it’s certainly not a very eco-friendly festival. The traditional Christmas really take a toll on environment. The food wastage, high carbon footprint, plastic gift packaging and paper wastage are some of the products of the aftermath of the Christmas.

So what if I tell you there are ways you can have a merrier and greener Christmas without taking any fun out of it. Here are some eco-friendly ways you can adopt to make this season a green one.

1.Eco-friendly Christmas tree

Christmas cannot be done without the beautiful tree in the hall. But the downside of these trees is that they end up in the bin after the season. An estimated 6 million trees are sent to landfill in the Uk alone every year, which amounts to approximately 9,000 tonnes of extra waste.

Artificial trees are no good either. They are usually made up of non-recyclable materials and requires a lot of energy for manufacturing.

Alternatively, you can try real trees which are grown in a sustainable manner. You can look for the FSC-certification logo or the ones that get approved by the Soil Association.

Or the best way is grow your own tree. This the most sustainable option but it would need your constant attention throughout the year. It would also reduce burden and save the cost of getting a new plant each year. There are other easy-to-grow indoor plants which can take the place of the Christmas trees like yucca, palm, fig etc although they are not very traditional.

You can even recycle real trees. There are allocated locations you can leave the tree or take it to your nearest recycling centre where they are shredded and used for other things or they are converted to compost.

The best way is to rent a tree. Many garden centres and plant nurseries offer such services. They’ll deliver and collect the tree and the tree remains intact and keeps growing for the next Christmas.

2.Reduce the food wastage

A high amount of food is consumed at Christmas and a lot of it goes to waste too. This season you can try being wary of throwing away food leftovers. Create new meals with leftovers or donate extra food to someone in need.

The amount of meat consumption is also increased during the festival season. I understand it’s difficult to say no to meat when it is the most tempted dinner of the year. Instead, you can try to reduce meat intake for the next few days to make up for it.

Moreover, if you can’t resist meat, eating organic meat is the least you can do. Try meat that supports small-scale farming as much as you can. It might be a bit more expensive, but it’s better to buy less than more of the cheap and cheerless intensively-farmed meat.

Alternatively, there are hundreds of vegan recipes especially for Christmas like vegan brandy butter, vegan eggnog etc.

3.Give eco-friendly gifts

Homemade and handcrafted gifts are the best gifts ever. Go for eco-clothing or some organic products for your loved ones. There are tons of websites and shops where you can easily find organic and eco-friendly gifts. The gifts that can last a long time are very sustainable as they reduce wastage.

The worst part of the gifts is the immense packaging they require. That amounts to huge piles of waste. If there are an average of 10 packaged gifts that are received in every household, imagine how many would be in millions of homes and the amount of packaging required for wrapping them all up.

Instead of using plastic shiny wrapping paper, switch to biodegradable or recycled paper. You can even be more creative and use papers from old magazines with different colours and styles. Wrapping your gifts with clothes which can be used again is also one great way to reduce packaging.

For Christmas cards, bring out your inner artist and make your own personalized cards using eco-friendly paper. You can even buy cards from local shops supporting the community that make these beautiful cards.

E-cards are also trendy these days. They are amazing to look at and are also very creative.

4.Green decorations

Decorations are the most beautiful part of Christmas. Every house looks like a house from a fairy tale. As we all know, electric lights are costly both to our pockets and to the environment, but you can still enjoy the twinkle of fairy lights at home whilst remaining environmentally conscious.

Indoor LED fairy lights are a great option when decorating your home for Christmas. They don’t need much energy to run and are much more efficient than standard or even energy saving bulbs. LED lights generally don’t produce heat, making them ideal for decorating your Christmas tree and reducing the risk of fire hazard.

Rather than buying new decorations this year, you can revamp your old baubles and give your tree a whole new theme. You can use nature to decorate your home. Holly branches, berries, and ivy all help to give your home a rustic Christmas aesthetic, even better you can forage for them for free!