You can make your own gift wrapping using recyclable or reusable materials. New Year holidays: celebrating with care for nature Sustainable Development Goals
The winter holidays are a time of joy, gathering with loved ones, preparing for the holidays, and exchanging gifts. But at the same time, they create additional stress on the environment. As we say goodbye to the old year and welcome the new one, it is important to remember nature and celebrate the holidays with care for yourself and the planet.
During the holidays, we spend more resources: preparing holiday meals, buying gifts in plastic wrappers, using electricity for fairy lights, and traveling by plane or car for visits or vacations. Even small changes in habits can reduce the negative impact on the environment and support sustainable development.
Gifts: familiar, but toxic
Gifts are an integral part of the holidays. But surveys show that people often receive gifts that are not what they were expecting, and some of them end up being thrown away. During the Christmas and New Year holidays, the amount of household waste increases sharply – by 25-30 percent in the United States and Europe.
Beautiful packaging and shiny ribbons are pleasing for only a few minutes, and then they turn into waste. Many traditional gifts – shower gel, shampoo, cosmetics – can contain microplastics and surfactants, which are harmful to the environment and human health.
Electronic devices also have an environmental burden. New smartphones, computers and gadgets require resources to produce, and electronic waste pollutes soil and water. Before you buy new devices, it’s worth considering whether they’re really necessary.
Eco-friendly and creative gifts
Gifts can be both enjoyable and good for the environment. For example, these could be tickets for an excursion or a master class on interesting skills, a hand-made scarf, or joint activities with friends and children.
If you choose material gifts, you can make your own packaging using recyclable or reusable materials. Christmas tree decorations created together with children will bring much more joy than those bought in a store.
Christmas tree and holiday decorations
Environmentalists recommend buying a live Christmas tree, not a plastic one, and doing it at official bazaars with confirmation that it is legal cuttings.
The World Wildlife Fund offers to “extend the life” of the Christmas tree after the holidays: the branches can be used as supports for climbing plants, the needles can be used for aromatic baths, hair masks, mattress fillers, or even cold remedies. If the tree is in a pot, it can be transplanted to a summer cottage after the holidays.
New Year’s garlands should be turned on only when necessary and turned off when leaving home or going to bed to save energy.
Holiday table with care for nature
You should prepare your meals responsibly by: buying local produce,
purchasing ingredients in large quantities at a time to reduce packaging, using reusable bags instead of plastic bags, and calculating the amount of food in advance to minimize waste – after all, a third of all food in the world is wasted.
Leftover food and unwanted gifts can be traded, sold or donated to those who really need them. Small habits like these will help make the holidays joyful and eco-friendly at the same time.