How To Have A Sustainable & Ethical Christmas

Whether you love or hate Christmas, there's no denying that it can be incredibly wasteful and unsustainable, with everything from gift wrap, uneaten food and christmas trees contributing to the environmental impact. Plus of course the frenzy of excessive gift buying, resulting in charity shops (or worse, landfill) stuffed full of unwanted presents come January.

However, there are many ways to reduce your impact, and make the festive season a much more sustainable and ethical affair. Here are some of our best tips below – if you like them, share them with your friends and family, and lead by example. You'll be surprised how quickly your own actions get others to think about what they're doing, and start to create real, positive change.

Wrapping paper

According to waste management company BIFFA, the UK alone sends 277,000 miles of wrapping paper to landfill after Christmas – enough to reach 90% of the way to the moon! The majority of this paper can't be recycled as it contains plastic in either glitter or laminate form.

What's the alternative? Opt for either plain brown paper which is recyclable (we love the old-school look of this too) or use a reusable gift wrap, which the recipients of your gifts will thank you for as they then get to pass it on! There are many places selling reusable gift wrap, including Wrag Wrap in the UK.

Christmas Trees

Between six and eight million real Christmas trees are sold in the UK alone every year, according to Dobbie's Garden Centres, with more than 160,000 tonnes of trees dumped each January – either because people do not know where their recycling facilities are, or are unwilling to remove decorations. Nordmann firs account for 80% of these trees, and they take 10-12 years to grow to 6ft.  

Artificial trees certainly aren't any better, with research from the Carbon Trust finding that a 6ft artificial tree has a carbon footprint around 40kg CO2 – more than ten times that of a burned real tree. Most are non-recyclable too.

What's the alternative? By all means get a lovely real tree, but make sure you take it to be properly recycled afterwards. According to edie, most local authorities in the UK offer tree recycling services, with the majority of trees collected this way being shredded into chippings and used at parks, schools or woodland pathways.

Food Waste

Again according to edie, around 1.6 billion tonnes of food goes to waste each year, representing about one-third of the food produced globally by weight. Christmas feasting plays a major part, with Brits alone throwing away an estimated two million turkeys, five million Christmas puddings, 17 million Brussel sprouts, 74 million mince pies and two million kilos of cheese. Much of this goes to landfill, releasing toxins into the soil and harmful greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere.

So, here at Immaculate HQ we're obviously not that into turkeys or dairy cheese – but we do love Christmas food! Especially now that there are so amazing vegan options everywhere. But whatever you're eating this festive season, reducing food waste should be a goal for everyone.

What's the alternative? It starts with being conscious of how much you actually need to buy, and not going overboard. Meal planning and buying small amounts every day or two can really help. Also, the internet is awash with free recipes that'll help you use up your leftovers, which is not only kind to the planet but kind to your wallet too! And if you can't eat all your leftovers in time, freeze them.

Sustainable & Ethical Gifting

From the products themselves, to the packaging they come in (over 100,000 tonnes of plastic packaging gets binned on Christmas Day in the UK alone) – many of the things we buy each other at Christmas are neither sustainable nor ethical. Plus the sheer amount of what we buy creates a waste issue in itself.

What's the alternative? A guiding principle is to buy less and buy better. If you're used to buying your loved ones several presents, why not spend the same amount on one really gorgeous, higher quality item that you know they'll love. Or pool together with others to buy someone a really special present that'll last for years and years (see our Investment Pieces Edit for some inspiration).

Excitingly, there are now many brands – from beauty, to fashion, to homewares – creating beautiful, stand-out products that have been designed with sustainability in mind along the whole supply chain, including using non-plastic materials and packaging, or making use of recycled and recyclable plastics. And of course also being cruelty free and animal free. Our Christmas & Gift Shop has lots of gift ideas for her, for him and for everyone. Here are some of our favourite sustainable and ethical brands:

Lüks Linen

A sun-bed epiphany in the coastal resort of Kalkan in Turkey sowed the seeds of Lüks, an East Sussex based textiles brand run by former Design Director Rachel Ward. With a focus on natural materials and versatility, Lüks works with small family ateliers and master weavers in Turkey, using gentle, centuries old craft to create hand loomed textiles for home and travel.

Utility is a core theme running through in their range, with peshtemals that can be used as towels, scarves or sarongs, and lounge gowns and throws for both indoor and outdoor living.

Committed to longevity and with a ‘buy less choose well’ mentality, Lüks offer a 20 year repair or replace guarantee on all of its products, which are woven from locally grown, spun, and OEKO TEX certified cotton. Marrying traditional weaving with contemporary design, the Lüks range is made with a lifetime in mind.

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Immaculate Gift Cards

Not sure what to give as a gift? Give the gift of choice with an Immaculate Vegan gift card, knowing that your giftee will be able to take their pick from 1000s of ethical and sustainable products in our store.

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