Top tips for a green Christmas

Have yourself a conscious Christmas this year with our top tips for going green this festive season.

Try your hand at sustainable gift wrapping, discover eco-friendly homemade gifts and learn what to do with your waste when Boxing Day comes around.

Whether you’re looking for a gift for mum, something for your significant other, a last-minute secret Santa, or even a present for yourself—we’ll have you covered this Christmas with what’s good for the planet and your wallet.

Tree time

If you’re looking for a more sustainable option for this year’s tree, why not try a living Christmas tree in a pot? It’ll look just as good (if not better!) than the plastic alternative and can be reused for years to come. Some easily sourced native options for potted trees include the Norfolk Island Pine and Woolly Bush

Looking for an eco-friendly Christmas tree but not much of a green thumb? Try your hand at a DIY tree made from old branches or twigs. It could be as simple as a single large branch standing in a pot of sand or a more intricate hanging design using small branches and twine. Decorate with your favourite ornaments and when you’re finished either keep it again for next year or place the branches and twigs into your lime-green lidded FOGO bin to be composted.

The gift of sustainability

It’s estimated that Australians use 1 billion disposable coffee cups and buy over 118,000 tonnes of plastic drink bottles a year.

This Christmas help your loved ones reduce their waste with the gift of a reusable coffee cup or a stainless-steel water bottle. Awesome gifts for eco warriors and the cash conscious alike!

Another great gift idea is reusable beeswax wraps. The sustainable alternative to cling wrap, reusable beeswax wraps are a great way to store leftovers and keep food fresh for longer minus all the single-use plastic. Try your hand at making them yourself for a cute DIY gift or purchase them from your local eco store.

And with the first phase of the state’s single-use plastics ban on the horizon, what better time to gift your loved ones some handy metal straws or a reusable cutlery pack. They make great stocking stuffers or gifts for Secret Santa.

Our favourite Freo spots for sustainable gifts include:

Sorting your waste

Be a good sort and place contaminated cardboard or paper, like Christmas napkins or paper plates, in the lime-green lidded FOGO bin where it can be composted. These soiled items can contaminate other recyclables if placed in the recycling bin.

Your tinsel and decorations may look great on a Christmas tree but not so great in your yellow-lidded recycling bin. Items like tinsel, beads and other Christmas decorations can tangle in the machinery at the Materials Recovery Facility where your recycling is taken to be sorted. Please make sure to place any discarded tinsel into your general waste bin or, better yet, save it to use again year after year.

Electronic items, like Christmas fairy lights, are a hazard and should never be placed in your kerbside bins as they too can damage the machinery at the sorting facilities. Instead donate working Christmas lights to a charity shop that can test and tag before selling or dispose of broken lights through your local council’s bulk waste service.

Nothing says thoughtful like DIY

Give the gift of a homemade present; step it up from your usual macaroni art with our top ideas:

A homemade succulent planter is sustainable and easy to make, and a perfect way to repurpose old crockery. A DIY coffee scrub is super easy, affordable and an excuse to use of coffee grounds. Step it up a notch by adding vanilla essence or cinnamon for that Christmassy touch. Ready, steady, bake! Put your baking skills to the test this year and give the gift of a yummy Christmas treat. Whether it’s cookies, rumballs, or the timeless fruit cake; baking is an affordable, low waste way to show your loved ones just how much you care this festive season. Pack it in a homemade box or cute tin. Want to give a thoughtful gift but not much of a baker yourself? Why not create a DIY choc chip cookie recipe base? It’s so simple, just layer the dry ingredients, attach a little recipe card with instructions of how to prepare the rest and let the recipient have all the fun baking. Perhaps they might need a guinea pig for their cookie creation? It’s a win–win! Wrap it up

Tired of using the same old Christmas wrapping paper and concerned about how much paper ends up in the bin? Why not try Furoshiki? This Japanese art of fabric wrapping, and tying is what was traditionally used prior to the rise in popularity of plastic bags and is a lovely no waste alternative to standard wrapping paper. You’ll be the family’s Marie Kondo in no time. Use this opportunity to peruse your local op-shops to find fun fabrics and patterns.

If you’re looking to shake it up this year, try your hand at sustainable gift wrapping this Christmas with a homemade word search. Fully recyclable and great fun for kids and adults alike.

For more information on working towards a zero-waste lifestyle, visit our Towards Zero-Waste page.