#natural materials

Image credit: Rodolfo Marques 

By Idha Valeur 

With Christmas sneaking up on us and December in full swing and the added focus on sustainability we take a look at how you can make better material choices for a slightly more sustainable Christmas.

Let’s talk about Christmas trees.

In the December issue of Materials World our news writer deep dived into the debate between the real and the fake tree to find out once and for all – which is the most sustainable?

It all depends on consumer behaviour and how that plays into the tree’s lifecycle. The life cycle analysis of real versus plastic Christmas trees showed that for a fake tree to be sustainable the owner would need to keep the tree for more than five years and if they donated it to a charity shop or similar when looking to upgrade that would improve the analysis.

While if you were to choose a real tree, prioritise buying a locally sourced tree because transportation emissions play into its overall sustainability. One could make it more sustainable by re-using the tree after the festive season by replanting it in the garden etc.

Whatever you choose, make an informed purchase and assess whether you are likely to keep an artificial tree for several years or what fits with your lifestyle.

Read the full analysis in MW here: https://bit.ly/2PcC8Je

What about wrapping?

There are certain key aspects to be aware of when it comes to wrapping paper. The most important factor to think about is ‘Is it recyclable?’.

There is a simple test you can do to assess this, scrunch the paper in your hand. If the paper remains crumpled up it is safe to recycle. If it doesn’t, keep it away from the recycling bin. 

Video credit: Recycle Now. 

‘Wrapping paper is often dyed, laminated and/or contains non-paper additives such as gold and silver coloured shapes, glitter, plastics etc which cannot be recycled,’ Recycle Now’s website states.  

Wrapping that is safe to use include brown paper and newspapers or you can buy recycled wrapping paper from several companies. For decoration fabric ribbons, twine and jute string are all better for the environment than shiny options. In general, avoiding metallic, shiny and/or glittery options is a safe move.

Another tip from Recycle Now is to avoid using sticky tape as this effects the paper’s recyclability. They recommend using ribbon or coloured string instead to secure the wrapping around the gifts to your loved ones.

Decorating with holly, evergreen and pine cones or cinnamon sticks that are good options for decor says Recycle Now. If they are not covered in glitter they can be composted after use. 

Other general tips include reuse as much as you can with for example, saving the wrapping paper and reusing it for smaller gifts later down the line, return your tree to a recycling point, reduce food waste and making your own presents.

As a parting thought on Christmas packaging, Recycle Now and Wrap statistics shows that ‘at Christmas we consume enough card packaging to cover Big Ben nearly 260,000 times.’ 

Merry Christmas from us & celebrate environmentally friendly.  

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