Ethically Kate: Sustainable Christmas can still be fun

A sustainable Christmas and summer break can add more fun! If you let it. Photo / Getty Images

OPINION

Having a more ethical summer doesn’t mean giving up fun. From sustainable swaps to streamlining your activities, Kate Hall (AKA Ethically Kate) shares advice for Christmas and the holidays so you can make more environmentally friendly choices while still finding festive joy.

Last year, my husband and I had a naked Christmas breakfast. It was hilarious. We made French toast with all sorts of toppings while sipping on fancy cups of tea and giggling over how ridiculous we felt. I’m telling you this so you understand that a sustainable Christmas does not take away joy. Unlike what many people think, I am not the Christmas Grinch, here to take away your tacky plastic Christmas decorations and steal your Christmas spirit in the name of environmentalism. A sustainable Christmas and summer break can add more fun! If you let it.

15 simple ways to make your holidays more mindful

1. Begin your sustainable Christmas efforts with the easiest swaps. Pack re-usables in your car so you can take leftovers home from Christmas events and say no to wasteful packaging when eating out at summer markets or on the road. Your food will taste better in re-usables, too!

2. Promise to yourself now that instead of grabbing a coffee to go when you’re away on holiday, you’ll sit down for a few moments and enjoy the atmosphere of whatever town you’re passing through.

3. If you have control over what food is served on Christmas Day, suggest less meat options, purchase locally grown produce and support small businesses like that local cafe that makes the best fruit mince pies!

Re-use your festive decorations from last year. Photo / 123rf

4. Re-use your Christmas decorations from last year.

5. Replace wasteful Christmas traditions with different ones — you’re welcome to steal my naked Christmas idea.

6. Carpool to your camping site.

7. Take airtight jars with you wherever you holiday to fill with organic matter that you can take home to your compost! Sign up to ShareWaste if you’re not up for storing your own compost.

8. Meal prep when you have time so the silly season doesn’t fill your rubbish bin and drain your bank account.

9. Give gifts of experiences, massage vouchers, dinners, homemade baking; gifts that aren’t just tokenistic “stuff”.

10. Normalise second-hand gifts.

11. Go swimming, not shopping.

Instead of shopping, spend your time swimming. Photo / 123rf

12. Wear a sustainable sunscreen from somewhere like Seasick Sunscreen Co.

13. Eat fruit that is in season.

14. If you’re hosting a gathering, utilise re-usable cutlery and plates.

15. Pick up rubbish as you wander the beach.

This rapid-fire list could go on forever, but the most important thing is to do what you can instead of doing nothing at all. A sustainable holiday season must be sustainable for your wellbeing too. Rest, get outdoors and spend time with your family. Don’t hold unrealistic expectations of yourself, and celebrate when you do get it right.