As the end of year (and decade!) comes to a wrap, the holiday seasons approach. At Gili Lankanfushi, this time of year is magical, and even though we won’t be having a traditional white Christmas, we always have a green Christmas. We encourage you to have a greener Christmas at home as well and here are some ways to get you started.
Having a Christmas tree in the house is an essential element of celebrating the holidays. In the UK, seven million Christmas trees were bought last year. However, this amounts to a lot of unnecessary waste as they are mostly discarded in landfills. According to The Carbon Trust, a two metre Christmas tree that is used once has a carbon footprint of 16kg when discarded in a landfill, and 2.5kg when properly disposed of. Instead of discarding a tree each year, here are some greener options you can consider:
- Rent a Christmas tree
See if you can rent a tree for the holiday season. Just like buying a Christmas tree from a farm, you can choose your own tree, but when the holidays are over, the tree will be sent back to be replanted! - Grow your own Christmas tree
You could buy a small Christmas tree and reuse it. Watch it grow over the years – this is also much more friendly for your wallet!
At Gili Lankanfushi we get a little creative with setting up our Christmas tree as they don’t really grow well in the tropics.
Now that we have our Christmas tree, the rest of the house still needs to be decorated. This a fun part of the holidays that sets the festive mood. If you already have decorations from before, by all means keep reusing them. If you need to replace decorations or buy new ones you can find plenty ideas and inspiration for a greener Christmas online. Here are a few easy suggestions to get you started;
- LED lights, or even better solar LED lights to put up around the house
- DIY and upcycle items to be hung as ornaments on the Christmas tree.
- Use plastic free crackers that can be easily recycled.
We love using solar jars at Gili Lankanfushi!
Christmas is not complete without the presents underneath the Christmas tree. The caveat is that this leads to a lot of packaging waste, in the UK, 227,000 miles of wrapping paper is thrown away around the holiday season. Not to mention the plastic packaging that comes with commercial products! To help reduce waste this year, we can be more mindful about the type of presents we buy and how we present them.
Look out for wrapping paper made from recycled paper or get creative and use some old magazines or newspapers. Shopping locally or giving handmade gifts is the easiest way to reduce your carbon footprint and packaging. If you have a Christmas market coming up in your neighborhood, that would be a great option for some unique gifts for your loved ones.
At Gili Lankanfushi, we always encourage people to shop locally and sustainably in our boutique.
The holiday season is a magical time of year which brings family and loved ones together. Wherever you may be spending time this upcoming festive season, we wish you a happy holiday and a green Christmas