My 5 Favorite Sustainable Holiday Tips
If you’re anything like me, then beginning in October when the stores start filling up with Halloween-themed decorations, you start to feel that impending mix of excitement and anxiety that comes with the realization that the holiday season is upon us.
Whether you cherish this time of year or dread it (or a combination of both), chances are the holidays feel demanding in various ways. And if you’ve started to try to reduce the waste that comes with the holidays, then this might feel like yet one more demand of the season tugging at your sleeve.
How much more waste do we generate during the holidays? According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, American household waste increases by more than 25% between the Thanksgiving and New Year’s. Food waste and packaging waste are two of the biggest problems during the holiday period.
But is this waste inevitable? Or can at least some of it be prevented? And if we’re going to try to reduce some of the waste, where should we focus?
Here are my five favorite tips for a more sustainable holiday season. I promise that they are all manageable…even with a hectic schedule.
Have a plan for your pumpkin
Let’s start with Halloween, since that’s the next one on the calendar. One of the biggest environmental issues surrounding this and the other upcoming holidays is all the food waste generated in their wake. For Halloween, the biggest food waste problem is the pumpkins. In the U.S. alone, more than one billion pounds of pumpkins per year end up in landfills around Halloween. Why is this a problem?
Food waste in landfills is one of the biggest sources of methane emissions, and methane is a greenhouse gas much more potent than carbon dioxide. Earlier this month, the U.S., Canada, the European Union and others signed the Global Methane Pledge to slash global methane emissions by 2030 to urgently address the climate crisis.
As individuals, we have a role to play, too. When you buy your pumpkins, make a plan for where they will end up when you’re done with them. Whether you make pumpkin pie or muffins, roast the seeds, or just use them as decoration, the key thing is to ensure the remains of your pumpkin get to a compost pile rather than the landfill. If you don’t have a backyard compost system—most Americans do not—then here are some other ways to dispose of your pumpkins:
- search online for “composting near me”
- look up litterless.com or try ShareWaste. The latter is like a dating app for composting. It matches composters with those needing to get rid of their compostable food scraps.
In a recent episode of a radio show on which I’m a regular guest, the host had another interesting idea for your pumpkin disposal. Here’s the link if you want to learn more.
You need a plan for your pumpkins. Photo credit: Cason Asher
Have a plan for your turkey
Just as pumpkin waste is the main culprit with Halloween, so is turkey waste the issue with the Thanksgiving and Christmas meals. And this makes sense. Think about it…have you ever bought a turkey with the goal of finishing it in one meal? There are always leftovers.
As you are prepping for your big feast, think ahead about what you’ll do with leftovers. Do you already have a favorite recipe for turkey soup, turkey curry or turkey sandwiches you’ll make the next day? If so, make sure to have what you need on hand to make your favorites over the next few days.
If you invite others for dinner, be sure to have containers on hand that you can use to send back leftovers with your guests. They’ll think of you appreciatively the next day and you will appreciate your non-overstocked fridge the next morning.
Make it a low waste gathering
Gatherings with friends and family are my favorite aspect of the holidays. One downside of larger gatherings, though, is that many hosts tend to opt for disposable plates, cutlery, and napkins to cut down on the after-party cleanup.
There are many ways to minimize disposables and hence cut down on waste. Consider using your own plates, silverware, cups, and napkins. There will be a bit more clean-up after the party but the little extra time you spend will feel great compared to dealing with several extra bags of trash after the party. I also find that friends often help with clean-up, and this can be part of the post-party fun.
If this seems like too much work, try just using, say, your own plates and silverware, and get paper cups and paper napkins. Something is better than nothing. Less waste is less waste.
My friend, Kath, recently reminded me of a large gathering she attended where compostable banana leaf plates were used. The best of both worlds, perhaps, in terms of convenience and sustainability. If you opt for compostable dinnerware, you’ll want to make sure it ends up in a compost system.
If you are attending someone else’s party, offer to bring something that’s reusable, like cloth napkins that you’ll take home and wash after the party. Your hosts might appreciate this just as much as a gift of wine or flowers and, who knows, this might open their minds to having future zero-waste gatherings.
The fun of a zero waste party. Photo credit: Stephanie Miller
Gift experiences and/or homemade gifts. If we are trying to get away from over consumption during the holidays, then we may need to communicate a somewhat abrupt and intentional break from traditions of our past. I grew up with lots of gifts exchanged over the holidays and for birthdays, so it’s tough to set down new expectations with family. This year, I’m letting my family know NOW (in October, before it’s too late) that I would prefer only a homemade gift, a book or—for close family—something I really need that I haven’t bought for myself.
As for giving, I can’t share my gift plans for this year because there’s a good chance my loved ones are reading this. But I can share what I’ve done in past years.
I’ve gifted my sister a massage at her favorite spa. My brother-in-law appreciates a gift card to a nice restaurant. My cousin and I gift each other spa pedicures to our favorite place where we go together as an outing early in the new year. And I guarantee you my baseball-crazed fiancé will enjoy tickets to a future baseball game much more than another tie.
Homemade gifts are tougher for me because I am not very crafty. Nonetheless, last year I gave a couple of friends homemade granola in a pretty glass jar. This recipe from tinytrashcan’s blog is so delicious that I included it in an annex to my book, Zero Waste Living, the 80/20 Way. If you’re looking for other ideas, Anne-Marie Bonneau, aka The Zero Waste Chef, has a helpful blog called 13 gifts in jars.
One of my favorite gifts to receive every year is from a friend who makes a wonderful goodie bag of homemade treats: caramel corn, a jar of my favorite cherry jam, and toffee. I consider this a downright decadent gift.
Homemade granola gift. Photo: Stephanie Miller
Use sustainable wrapping. One of the biggest sources of trash after Christmas is all the gift wrapping. I recall bags and bags of it in years past. Some of it is recyclable, some is not. To better understand what is and is not recyclable, see my Instagram post on this.
Better than disposing of the wrapping in the trash or recycle bin is to find a more sustainable alternative. Here are a few of my favorites:
Reuse gift bags. This is a great and easy option. Just be sure to check that the labels (from the previous gift!) have been removed.
Get creative. Use newspaper with interesting headlines to wrap gifts. Use toilet paper tissue wrap. We have a subscription to Who Gives A Crap toilet paper and their packaging is a great size for things like books.
Who Gives a Crap toilet paper tissue makes great gift wrap. Photo: Stephanie Miller
Make your own reusable cotton bags from old cloth. Ok, this last idea requires a bit more of a time commitment. A couple of years ago, a few friends gathered to make reusable cotton bags from old sheets and other materials that could be used as produce bags. Some of them were so pretty that we used them as gift bags and reminded the recipients that they could reuse the bag after they opened the gift inside. Two gifts in one!
Reusable cotton bag doubles as gift bag and produce bag. Photo: Stephanie Miller
As you can see from the ideas above, making your holiday a whole lot less wasteful only takes a tiny bit of planning.
As we move deeper into the holiday season, remember also that this is the time of year to be generous, including to yourself. Be forgiving of yourself when you can’t get to zero waste despite your efforts.
So, are you ready? Bring on the low-waste holidays.
