Have a Green Australian December Holiday

A mountain of holiday gifts and goods make their way out of stores and into homes each holiday season. Regrettably, not long after the festivities subside, most of those often well-meaning gifts move rapidly on to mounds of landfill.

Slowing the migration is as easy as setting your family the Green holiday Challenge to send as little as possible to landfill this holiday. Inspired by the target of a more or less empty wheelie bin, you will all make decisions that generate less waste.

Many actions help with celebrating a green holiday, like locally-grown foods to reduce food miles, switching to LED eco holiday lights and donating gifts to charities. The massive amount of food, plastic and non-recyclable waste is the primary environmental problem, but it is an easy one for eco friendly households to tackle.

Sit the team down before holiday and talk about methods of reuse, reduce and recycle. Here’s some ideas to get you started.

Good for the environment plastic-free picnics

Disposable plastic plates and cups are made from petrochemicals, so pollution is created in their manufacture and when thrown-away they sit in landfill forever. Choose reusable plates that you wash up or use palm leaf plates, a stylish plant alternative. They add a chic good for the environment style to your festive table and can be put onto your garden as mulch, rather than in the bin.

Trim a living tree
When Santa arrives in his carbon-neutral sleigh, surprise him with a live Australian Wollemi pine tree. This recently discovered old-fashioned tree is now available in nurseries. A potted Wollemi can grow with your family to be trimmed year after year. Or, why not make it a tradition to find a lovely Eucalyptus branch that can be composted when the holiday festivities are over.

Wrap it again

A fantastic way to stretch the budget and save piles of waste is to wrap presents in newspaper, magazines and even junk mail. For children use the comics, for car lovers use the motoring pages. Rather than wrapping, place gifts inside reusable shopping bags, or sew cloth bags from festive holiday material that your family can re-tie with ribbon annually. For an extra special Green holiday touch, Earth Greetings make beautiful post consumer waste wrapping paper with Australian holiday designs printed with vegetable inks.

Detour past the bin

Ask yourself, is this holiday gift wind up in the bin within a couple of weeks? If yes, opt for something else. The old saying quality not quantity is a fantastic friend of the planet. Even the cheapest items use the planet’s limited resources, energy and water to manufacture. Rather than buy a risky gift, consider a gift voucher or make a donation to a charity on behalf of the person. Should you receive an unsuitable gift, pass it straight on to a charity such as the Salvos.

A green holiday gift for your garden

Food scraps make up a large portion of rubbish and once in landfill they generate methane, a concentrated greenhouse gas. Compost at home instead and turn leftovers into fertiliser for your garden. The Bokashi composting bin is a popular system that sits conveniently in your kitchen.

Packaging-free paradise

Picture a paradise where holiday morning is clear of mounds of discarded plastic packaging. It takes a little extra thought and effort. Locally made and hand-made holiday gifts are to be over-packaged. A trip to the local Farmer’s Markets will also help you stock up on fresh festive food with minimal packaging.

Rather than talking rubbish; this holiday, your family will soon be asking is this for landfill, recycling or composting? And the joy of accomplishing your challenge will bring good tidings to all.

Biome Eco Stores is a chic retail outlet with a conscience. Firmly committed to eco friendly principles, Biome offers a unique and meaningful green holiday collection for gifts and decoration.