Opt for natural, biodegradable, or reusable decorations and serving ware

Disposable decorations and serving ware often made from plastic may be in your home for just one day but will exist in landfills for thousands of years. Now consider if all homes were doing the same, that’s a lot of waste! Instead, you could decorate your home with natural flowers, and good quality reusable décor which could feature not just this Christmas, but in many Christmases to come.

• Here at Mitre10 one of our favourite ways to decorate our outdoor entertaining areas, which lasts not just for Christmas day but throughout the whole holiday season, is a Festive Hanging Basket! Learn how to make your own!

Consider your wrapping paper

Each year Australia goes through 150,000km worth of Christmas wrapping paper, that’s enough to wrap around the Earth’s equator almost 4 times! What can we do about this?

• Go nude! The best thing we can do to combat waste is to reduce our use, and consider which gifts need to be wrapped and which don’t.
• Wrap in a cloth or scarf which could be an extra gift for the recipient.
• Use reusable gift bags or Christmas stockings and store them for next year.
• Use wrapping paper that can be recycled such as printed paper without any glitter or shine. 

Give Unwanted Gifts a New Life

Throughout this holiday season, over 20 million Aussies will receive unwanted gifts. These gifts could end up sitting in your cupboard before eventually finding their way to the bin once your next spring clean or big move comes around OR you could give them a new life by donating them to the less fortunate, or regifting to a friend or family member.

Minimise Food Waste

In most Australian homes over 25% of the food bought and prepared throughout the month of December is wasted. With one in six Australians experiencing food insecurity, imagine how many people that could feed. You can do your part this Christmas by: 

• Planning your meals
• Writing a shopping list (and sticking to it)
• Assessing what you already have
• Prioritising eating leftovers
• Investigating food donation options for what you won’t get through, or to make good use of the money saved by all that planning!

Make a Conscious Christmas Tree Choice

A real Christmas tree is more eco-friendly than a fake plastic one. The production and disposal of a real tree has fewer emissions, contributes less to landfill, and supports land use for forestry. So, this year why not give a real Christmas tree a go?

We recognise that Christmas is a time of tradition. There is no need to worry if some of these options do not suit your needs. The idea is to change what you can while maintaining, or even increasing, the value of this special holiday for you, your family, and loved ones. Happy Holidays!