Originally published on CutTheCrap as “Happy (Sustainable) Holidays!”

Written by Zoe Pettit and Bella Bekos of the CutTheCrap team.

As we get closer to the holiday season, I personally struggle with keeping sustainability in mind. It’s easy to get distracted by bad habits or family traditions around the Holidays- food wasted at Thanksgiving, excess shopping at Christmas, etc.

Although a shift away from consumerism is an overwhelmingly large task, each of us can do our part in making this holiday season (at least a little) less wasteful and more sustainable. Whatever holiday you are celebrating this year, you have the ability to make it sustainable and fun in many accessible ways!

Here are some ideas to get you started.

7 Ways to Be More Sustainable Over the Holidays

1. Make your own wrapping paper- or go without

Most wrapping paper we see in stores cannot be recycled because of its shiny coating, meaning that it is most likely ending up in landfills. Instead, try wrapping presents with newspapers, drawings, old maps or simply a scarf or other cloth.

“If every American family wrapped just 3 presents in reused materials, it would save enough paper to cover 45,000 football fields.” –Stanford University

2. Consider your food choices this Thanksgiving

When you’re sitting down for your Thanksgiving feast, think about where your food came from. Major turkey processors rely on artificial breeding to fulfill the demands of U.S. consumers during the holiday season. This includes artificial insemination, continued breeding of a single hen, and then the harsh treatment of chicks to be bred in preparation for Thanksgiving.

Instead of supporting these corporations, try buying 1) turkey from a sustainable local farmer, or better yet, 2) focusing on more plant-based dishes. A more veggie-focused dinner will not only challenge you to try new recipes (and maybe start new traditions) but it will reduce the environmental impact of your Holiday season overall.

Here’s a website that provides information about where you can find a local/organic turkey/ham and vegetables near you: http://eatwild.com/products/index.html

3. Get a pesticide-free tree and recycle it when you’re done!

Buying a local Christmas tree is an easy way that you can avoid purchasing trees coated in pesticides.

When the holidays have passed and you’re ready to get rid of your tree, recycle it! Most trees end up in landfills despite the fact that many cities have Christmas tree recycling programs, where they turn old Christmas trees into mulch or wood chips.

Find out if there is a program near you: https://realchristmastrees.org/all-about-trees/how-to-recycle/

4. Buy Less

This one seems silly but simply buying less is one of the most effective ways to reduce your footprint and to have a more sustainable holiday season. Instead of buying material goods, give family members experiential gifts, whether that be a concert, a day trip, etc.

This type of gift may be more difficult because of COVID but this gives you a chance to get creative! When COVID started, I gave a family member a gift of a camping/hiking weekend up north, which turned out to be the highlight of the summer (socially distanced, of course).

More experiential gift ideas include a state park pass, a massage appointment, movie tickets, and anything else your loved one would enjoy.

5. If you do purchase new items, try to buy locally

You can’t get experiential gifts for everyone in your life. And that’s ok!

If you want to give them a material present, try buying from local stores, small businesses, OR support sustainable companies that you’re ordering from. In both cases, you are supporting smaller-scale businesses that also value sustainability!

6. Sustainable Entertaining

Paper plates and plastic cutlery are very appealing when hosting- they are very convenient and prevent you from having to do loads of dishes after your Holiday feasts.

It’s a win-win, right? Well… not quite.

These items add up, leading to an unnecessary amount of waste in landfills.

Opt to use reusable dishes for your holiday entertaining this year. Many of us are having smaller get together this year, so treat it like any other meal. Make clean up a part of the family time, and enlist your kids to help!

7. Make Homemade Cards

Photo by Vladimir Proskurovskiy on Unsplash

Homemade cards are a beautiful way to show your appreciation for your loved ones. Store-bought cards are more expensive, while also using a lot of resources for their creation and distribution.

According to one statistic,

“The amount of cards sold in the US during the holiday season would fill a football field 10 stories high, and requires the harvesting of nearly 300,000 trees.”

Yes, homemade cards are less formal, but they are also more meaningful, personal, and fun to make. It also makes a great activity to do with siblings or kids!

What are your favorite sustainable holiday tips? Let us know in the comments below!

How to Have a More Eco-Friendly Holiday Season