Have a more Eco Friendly Christmas

by Gareth Pritchard

We all love Christmas at Leighton Buzz Radio, but by boxing day some of us may be looking around and thinking of the environmental impact of Christmas.

I’ve come up with 5 easy ways to reduce the environmental impact of Christmas without limiting the fun and joy of christmas.

1-Buy refurbished or used tech

No doubt the very latest flagship smartphone may be on a special someone’s wish list. However, not only can you save yourself some money by buying refurbished, but you’re reusing something that would have otherwise sat in a drawer. Refurbished smartphones come in a variety of conditions and those in the best condition are almost indistinguishable from the new product. In fact the only noticeable difference will be that the box has been opened. There’s no performance issues at all. Phones in slightly less pristine condition will cost less but may have minor blemishes, that let’s be honest, would have appeared after a week of using anyway. If you’re buying a newer model for someone, consider selling the replaced phone. This will generate some extra cash and give it another life too.

2-Use less meat

Meat production is known to have a big impact on the environment. By reducing the amount of meat you buy and consume over Christmas you can lower the impact. Typically my family has turkey, ham and pigs in blankets. I’m sure we omit one of these meats from the Christmas dinner without really noticing the difference.   Even the non-meat food can come with a lot of packaging, have a look at The Good Life Refill in Leighton Buzzard High Street you can buy many of your baking ingredients, dried fruit and nuts with zero waste and often locally sourced too.

3-Reduce the amount of wrapping paper used

Stamp your own christmas paper

While not the worst eco issue, wrapping can generate a lot of immediate waste on Christmas day. Wrapped gifts are more visually appealing and festive, but do all gifts need to be wrapped? There may be gifts that it’s obvious what they are, even when wrapped. An alternative to using wrapping paper is using cloth. This can be reused for wrapping gifts year after year.   Also consider getting creative using old newspapers, stamping your own paper, music sheets, football pages or anything appropriate to the giftee.  Here’s some more ideas https://www.environment911.org/50-Alternatives-to-Wrapping-Paper

4-Make your own decorations

You could make decorations rather than buy them. It’s something you can do as a family or group and those decorations will mean much more to you when you get them down from the attic at Christmas time.   As we are all about the music here at Leighton Buzz Radio here is a fun use for old Cd’s that the kids will love

5-Think before you gift – some ideas are free

Will every gift given be used? So much of what we gift to others doesn’t get used. Do consider giving money, vouchers or digital products that you know will get good use. Vouchers don’t have to cost you any money, you can include a voucher promise if you have a specific skill you can offer.  How about making a playlist on Spotify dedicated to them.

We all aim to have the perfect Christmas, but small changes can help keep Christmas more eco friendly without big sacrifices.