Tips for a Waste-Free Holiday Season
Christmas is less than a week away, so for those who are waiting until the last minute to shop for gifts and make preparations for your holiday get-togethers, I thought I might share some of our strategies to try to be more waste-free this year. On our Waste-Free Dayton Instagram page at the end of November, we shared a Friday Facts post about waste during the December holiday season:
Americans produce 25% more trash during the holiday season
Food waste increases during the holidays, with millions of pounds of uneaten food going to landfills
An estimated half of the 4.6 million pounds of wrapping paper produced each year ends up in landfills
In our household, we are focusing on three areas to try to reduce waste and be more eco-friendly this holiday season.
Gift Wrapping
In previous years, we always aimed to recycle our wrapping paper. What we didn’t realize then was that some wrapping paper isn’t recyclable (for example, if it has non-paper additives, contains foil or metallics, or is heavily laminated). To avoid the question, we chose to make our wrapping paper this year. We bought brown craft paper, holiday stamps, and eco-friendly tape, and we are happy with the end result.
In addition to using gift bags, we also looked into reusable gift wrap, such as Japanese Furoshiki fabric wrap.
Handmade, Secondhand, & Experiences
Americans are expected to spend close to $1,000 on Christmas in 2021 (source: Bankrate). Many surveys show that millions of unwanted gifts end up in landfills every year. Rather than buying gifts for the sake of buying gifts, you can give homemade gifts. We are giving dozens of bourbon balls to friends and family. Homemade apple cider vinegar is also relatively easy to make, and allows you to give apple cores another use. (Too late to start on that this year, but you can start making ACV for next year.)
If people ask you what you would like for Christmas, think about what you really need. How about a coffee date with a friend, or a nature walk. Giving somebody an experience can have much more meaning and show how much a relationship means to you versus a tangible item that might not be needed. And don’t forget about thrift stores! Many of those unwanted gifts end up getting donated to thrift stores.
Shop Local and Waste-Free
Big box stores have a lot of selection under one roof, and online mega stores can ship you something in a day, but small businesses are the heart and soul of our community. Dayton has some many great small businesses, too many to list in this post, as well as a number of “waste-free” vendors. We shopped at a popup in downtown Dayton yesterday and picked up a few waste-free products to give as gifts.
These are just a few steps that we are taking this year to try to be more eco-friendly. A waste-free lifestyle is a journey, and sometimes it’s okay to be satisfied with small steps rather than make big changes all at once.