Happy Christmas countdown you sprout-coloured souls! Mariah Carey has been released from Chrimbo captivity, there’s a fairytale unfolding in New York and Santa is on his way to each and every one of you (but this year he’s walking. You know. To reduce his carbon sleighprint) because you lot are at the top of the nice list. Your achievements this year have not gone unnoticed.
Tis officially the season for green swaps, for eco-festivities and presents that are good for the present, as well as the future. The kind of stuff we’ve been doing all year, just wrapped in tinsel. And so far, so great. For almost a 12 months we’ve been working through these monthly challenges together, and with the spirit of the season in mind, let’s take a little look back at what you’ve achieved thus far (sang in the tune of The 12 Days of Christmas, naturally):
For the 12 months of Green Swaps, Ethos gave to me…
- Several tips for reuse
- Plenty of foodie swaps
- Tips on how to switch off
- A green clean for the home
- Inspiration for your eco-ethos
- Ways to use less plastic
- Holiday swaps in summer
- Advice on helping animals
- Guidance for plant/kid parents
- Several spooky swap-outs
- The year’s remaining eco-events
- AND A PARTRIDGE IN A PEAR TREE!
Now, by “partridge” we mean this final Green Swaps challenge, and by “pear tree” we mean the page on the Ethos website we’ve uploaded it to… Because this, you Green Beans, is your final set of challenges for the year. I know! How did we end up here?
Think back to almost a year ago. Our first Green Swaps back in January of 2024, talking about the aftermath of Christmas and the abundance of stuff that comes along with it.
The binned wrapping paper, the scrapped leftovers, the unwanted presents – the season of ridding that comes after the season of giving.
Well, this month it’s our opportunity to prepare for the aftermath beforehand (#beforemath), to alleviate the waste by not creating as much to begin with, to shop, to celebrate, to feast in environmentally-friendly ways, to craft an eco-Christmas that emphasises the greens from within the greens, reds and golds of the holidays.
It’s time to wrap up the Earth in bow, because our planet is the gift that keeps on giving, to each and every one of us. But she comes with no warranty, no receipt. We cannot change her batteries, update her systems or ask Santa for a new one next year. This world is all we got. And if we take care of her a little better – she’s all we need.
Ready for your final set of Green Swaps, challengers?
Let’s go ho ho!
1. Christmas Decorations
Christmas begins the second you fish the deccies out of the loft, blowing the cobwebs off the fairy-lights as they entangle around your soul in a festive chokehold. For some, that means Christmas starts as early as Home Bargains swaps out the Halloween aisle for Santa stuff (as soon as it hits midnight on November 1st). For others, the scrooges of the season, it starts as late as the week before Jesus’ birthday, after begrudgingly sticking up the tree on your wife’s slightly passive aggressive command. Either way, Christmas begins and ends with the decorations.
Something that has been true every single year since Mary gave birth, and yet every single year we still find ourselves collecting more ornaments, curating more trinkets, adding to our endless and ever-expanding assortment of Christmassy bits. There are elves on the shelves, Santa Clause on your chest of drawers, mistletoe every which way you go – I’ve even got a Christmas hamster, a Christmas hamster, hanging on my tree. It’s the month in which our house transforms into a grotto. And the Earth transforms into a blindingly bright wasteland.
In 2022, UK manufacturers sold approximately £11.4 million worth of Christmas decorations. Clearly it’s a part of tradition – or a side effect of the human condition – to need to consume. To collect. To accumulate. And that’s great! Or at least it would be, if we did it right. Because it’s possible. We can still adorn our homes in xmas cheer, whilst decorating sustainably.
Here are some seasonal swaps we can make:
- Make your own decorations – paper chains, pine cones, baked orange slices, you name it. Not only is it a sustainable way of decorating, but it’s a little festive fun that you can have with the whole family!
- Choose solar powered or LED lights – a Christmas tree without its lights is like a human being without its clothes; nobody wants a naked being lingering in the corner of the room. BUT, if you’re going to wrap it up in tiny orbs of starlight, then at least choose the ones that use the least amount of energy per twinkle.
- Avoid glittery items – though you should never let anybody dull your sparkle, it might be worth capitalising on your own inner glitter, rather than Poundland’s. Because glitter is not recyclable (including anything that’s covered in glitter, too), it can escape into the environment and is often not biodegradable.
- Buy a British tree! – if you’re sourcing a real Christmas tree this year, why not pick one that’s local, with less air miles beneath its thick patent belt, ideally as close to home as possible. Keep your eye out for the British Christmas Tree Growers Association mark and if you buy a tree that’s potted, try to pick one that’s been grown in peat-free compost! And if you take good care of it this Christmas, you can reuse it for festive years to come.
2. Christmas Presents
Nine year old me would argue that the presents are the highlight of the festivities (though almost thirty-year-old me knows that the next section is the true spirit of the season), and sure, the feeling of giving a loved one something they’ve desperately wanted – it’s priceless. But the thing itself is pricey. In more ways than just its cost.
Each year, those of us in the UK spend over £700 million on Christmas gifts that, uh… our loved ones don’t even want. That’s why we end up throwing away approximately £42 million of unwanted presents – EACH YEAR – with most finding their new home in landfill. Only 1% of purchases made over Christmas are still being used six months later.
But it’s not just the gifts themselves that are cursing the environment. How the presents are presented is wreaking havoc, too.
Brits bin the equivalent of 108 million rolls of wrapping paper each year; that’s 384,400km of the stuff – enough of it to reach the moon! And research by Greenpeace found that just 1kg of wrapping paper is responsible for more than 3kg of COS emissions during its production. Not to mention the fact that the amount of plastic packaging used each Christmas weighs five times as much as the Statue of Liberty herself – with polystyrene packing double the weight of a space shuttle!
The numbers are ridiculous – but they’re real. And they’re really damaging the Earth. Unless we decide to do something about it. Things like:
- Buying local – support small businesses, support your local economy.
- Getting your eco-gifts ideas from charitable places – like the Wildlife Trust. Or RSPCA. Or Cats Protection. Or Oxfam. Or British Red Cross.
- Choosing preloved – it prevents unnecessary waste, and secondhand items are often cheaper, whilst still being in good shape!
- Making it yourself – you can choose eco-friendly materials to make one-of-a-kind items for those you love most (plus, they can’t return a handmade gift).
- Gifting experiences – an experience reduces the demand for physical products, and stops your home filling up with unwanted presents. They’re also the perfect way to create lifelong memories with those you love most. Because time spent will forever be more priceless than money spent.
- Wrapping gifts sustainably – shiny, glittery wrapping paper is not recyclable, but brown paper, boxes and bags are.
- Removing packaging – opt for pressies that come in as little packaging as possible, or those that are packaged sustainably.
- Giving a gift with a purpose – adopt an animal. Sponsor a cause. Donate money to charity. Gift a National Trust membership. Support disabled ducks. Find something that matters to you, and share it. Be the gift that keeps on giving.
Remember, Christmas is all about quality, not quantity. Not necessarily even the quality of the presents, but the quality of the time spent with those you love most. Focus on that this year. The laughs, the games, the chatter. Because presents get stuffed in drawers, under beds, up in the loft, but memories made thread into your soul for entire lifetimes.
3. Christmas Foods
THIS. THIS IS THE TRUE MEANING OF CHRISTMAS. The scoffing, the stuffing, the scranning, the slurping. The snacks, the treats, the overeats. The hearty meals and the belly aches. The shared foods and trapped winds. The Christmas Day family dinners at the table and the Boxing Day picky-bits as you flop across the sofa in your new pyjamas. The yule logs and mince pies. The crackers, the cheese, the truffles, the trifles. The blanketed pigs and cinnamon figs. The snacks, snacks, snacks, snacks – what a treat! It’s time to eat!
Christmastime truly is the season for stuffing your faces. There is a direct correlation between how jolly Santa is, and how rotund. It’s just a shame that we feed the bin its fair share of foods, too.
With the UK discarding over 54 million platefuls of food over the festive period, it seems that our mince p-EYES are certainly bigger than our bellies. And of all the foods we do eat, the carbon footprint that comes with cooking them is the same as a single car travelling the globe 6,000 times! The excess of eating this season causes some leftover and lasting effects.
But, as always, there are some easy and achievable food swaps we can make this Christmas to alleviate them. Here’s what we can do:
- Plan ahead – figure out exactly how much food you need per person so that you’re not buying more than you need.
- Eat your leftovers! – baste the turkey, don’t waste the turkey!
- Eat more plants – poultry is in the top 10 most wasted foods in the UK and 100,000 tonnes of it ends up in the bin every year. Eating more plant-based Christmas meals is better for you, and the planet.
- Look for sustainability logos – you are what you eat, so if you want to be a more eco-friendly individual, then eat foods that have been sourced, produced and delivered sustainably.
- Shop local – support local businesses and lessen your food miles
- Compost vegetable waste – because don’t the worms deserve a Christmas dinner, too
4. And above all else; be merry!
The best thing you can do for this Earth this love it. Love your loved ones. Love yourself. Treat the world the way you treat your family; with kindness, with generosity, with unbridled love. And extend that same loveliness your own way, too. Shake off the stresses of the season, don’t worry about how much you spend, how much you eat, how much you sit and stew in your festive knickers. Just be mindful, be in the moment, be present. That’s the best gift you can give yourself this year.
And then you can look back upon it in awe of yourself. Grateful for all the good you’ve given to the world these past 12 months. Recognise your achievements, and then wrangle them again, ready to repurpose, reuse and recycle those same green swaps in the year ahead.
Thank you for being a part of the green team. Green-thumbs green-footprints, green-hearts. Of all the green swaps we’ve made this year, there’s one thing we would never swap out for; and that’s you. You’re as green as they come. We’re so incredibly thankful for everything you’ve done.
Now let’s do it all again in the new year. We’ll meet you back here in 2025 for our new Ethos eco-campaign. Different challenges, same goal. Healing our home.
But until then, you have the green light to go relax, reflect, remind yourself how much good you’ve done. Go eat, drink and be merry.
We told you Kermit. #ItsEasyBeingGreen.
