Towards Zero waste
There's a huge amount of waste that comes with the traditions of Christmas and the holiday season. However, it doesn't have to be 'Christmas as usual'. You can reclaim the meaning by taking some easy steps to reduce your impact.
In Australia, 76 million tonnes of waste is produced every year, and during the festive season this amount is 30 per cent higher than the rest of the year.
Plastics
Australia has made some significant steps in recent years in it's plan to reduce packaging waste. This included a ban on single-use plastic items by NSW, ACT and South Australia.
- Don’t forget to take your reusable shopping bag when you're Christmas shopping.
- Buy in bulk to minimise packaging waste.
- Doing a picnic in the park? Bring your own washable plates and cutlery, or use biodegradable plant-based items, available from Going Green Solutions
Wrapping presents
- Furoshiki is the long-time Japanese practice of wrapping gifts in cloths. This requires no cutting, only wrapping and knotting. See how to here and more here.
- Recycled Paper – Fun wrappings can be made from old paper maps, sheet music or tissue sewing patterns.
- Reusable Bags – If you don’t want to go the wrapping route, here's how to make reusable bags.
When receiving gifts, make sure you use paper again if possible, or recycle it. See more sustainable gift wrap ideas
Food choices
- the Saveful app helps you turn waste ingredients into 'meals you'll love'
- find sustainable catering companies for workplace events
Daring greatly. “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; ... and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” – Theodore Roosevelt
What will be your 'arena' in 2026?
What will be your 'arena' in 2026?
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