Top 10 Eco-Friendly Holiday Hacks
Here are my top 10 Eco-friendly holiday hacks to avoid the nauseating amounts of consumerism, packaging and excessive waste we all make, but hope to avoid around the holidays:
DIY Gifts. Show your love by taking the time to make something that will then be meaningful to someone else because you’ve made it. From soaps to knitted slippers, you can learn how to do anything online these days!
Bake instead of Buy! Gift handmade treats from your kitchen instead of over-purchasing unhealthy sweets that make you feel bloated and gross afterwards. Replace sugar with monkfruit sweetener, or turn your gramma’s shortbread recipe vegan!
It goes without saying, but SHOP LOCAL wherever possible! This is essential to ensuring we all have a holiday dinner on our tables this season!
Collect items from your home that you no longer use and give them a second life! Re-gifting saves that beautiful thing from going to the landfill and saves you money.
Take any opportunity to propagate the plant kingdom! Give seeds, seedlings or plants this season instead of fresh cut flowers when visiting your family.
If you’re already overwhelmed by possessions in your life, tell your family to support a charity in your name.
Shop at second hand shops or antique malls and find that unique item that has a story behind it. The most sustainable gift is one that already exists.
Make your own vegan egg nog!!! Here’s a good recipe!
Rethink food prep. The holidays are the most wasteful time of year. Eat root to stem as some may say, and use your veggie off-cuts to make your own broths, gravies or even crackers in the dehydrator. Only cook what your family needs and share the rest.
Substitute ribbons and bows for freshly foraged sprigs or make your own bows with up-cycled materials. Use craft paper and twine instead of tape if you can because tape and all that shimmery paper can’t actually be recycled, contrary to what most people might think.
AND MOST OF ALL, ENJOY EACH OTHER! HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM OUR FAMILY TO YOURS!