Last straight line before Christmas and its famous preparations . Whether you are spending these end-of-year celebrations with family or friends , there are always many steps to take: decorating the tree and the house , creating gourmet recipes for a festive meal , and of course wrapping all the gifts for the people around us.
What if we did all of this responsibly ? We are challenging ourselves to have the most ecological Christmas possible , and for that we are giving you some ideas that we have found to have a magical time at the end of the year.
Make your own Christmas decorations: Do It Yourself version!
For fans of Do It Yourself (do it yourself), there are various methods to decorate your house and your tree for the Christmas holidays. This can become a nice workshop to do with the children, or with friends, in order to wait patiently for the arrival of the basket filled with gifts.
- Create an Advent wreath: Christmas wreaths can be placed on the table or hung on the door. To make one yourself, nothing could be simpler! Start by preparing a wire circle where you can wrap small fir branches. You can add pine cones that you tie with small strings. Red ribbons, candies, dehydrated citrus fruits: creation is limitless so let yourself go with this DIY Christmas decoration!
- Make an original Christmas tree: if you don't want to opt for the real Christmas tree (the one that loses its beautiful thorns all over the living room 😄), it is possible to make this little tree in many ways: in a wooden pallet, paper or cardboard. There are various tutorials on the internet and you should quickly find your happiness. And why not draw a fir tree using suitable felt-tip pens directly on your French window or a mirror?
- Decorate the house with original creations: paper garland, drawings colored by the children, handmade scented candles, pine cones placed all over your home, cardboard snowflakes... When you start looking for ideas, you don't you won't be able to stop!
If you don't have a creative soul or if you're short on time, we advise you to go for a walk in the second-hand shops around you to buy second-hand decorations. You will be able to give a second life to often neglected objects and thus imagine an unusual decoration.
Preparing reusable gift wrapping: an ecological alternative for an original Christmas
Once the (hard) choice of gifts has been made for your family, your friends, and yourself (yes, we must not forget to have fun!), it remains to know how to wrap them. No more traditional paper that ends up in the trash (although some people use this paper to wrap other gifts: great idea!). Now there are great alternatives:
- Seeded paper: this is recycled paper that is impregnated with seeds. Once it has been used, just plant it in the ground and discover pretty colorful flowers when the good weather arrives.
- Furoshiki: in the era of zero waste, we hear more and more about this Japanese technique which consists of wrapping gifts in fabric. You can take sheets, textiles that you no longer use or take the opportunity to make it with a beautiful scarf to offer.
- Newsprint: here is a great solution to use paper that has already been used and also concoct responsible and original gift wrapping! Feel free to choose a specific page with a secret message 😉.
At the simplest, you can also offer a gift in a kraft bag or without artifice around. It's up to you to see if you want to keep the surprise for your loved one until the last moment.
If you are (still) looking for gift ideas to spoil your loved ones, quickly read our article: 3 good reasons to choose an ethical gift for Christmas
Prepare a local and homemade meal for eco-responsible Christmas parties
We often associate Christmas meals with gluttony, but also with hearty meals. At the end of the year, it is possible to make a delicious, responsible and creative dinner!
Here, we're not going to give you recipes (we'll wait for you to give us ideas in the comments 😄), but some tips for cooking a healthy and tasty party meal.
- By favoring the local, you will be able to offer exceptional dishes and thus highlight recipes that are sometimes unknown, but which are part of your region. Go and meet the breeders and producers around you!
- Think about creating a menu beforehand and validate your guest list, this way you will know the quantity of food to buy and you will be able to avoid food waste.
- For chocolate fans, it is possible to find ethical delicacies from Swiss chocolate artisans. You can meet them on the Christmas markets, but also in their magnificent shops.
Of course there are plenty of tips for making an eco-responsible party meal, and you will manage to find the ones that suit you the most! What is certain is that this dinner will be exquisite and perfect, because created with all your love.
In a critical ecological context, it is true that it is important to continue to consume responsibly, even in exceptional events.
In this article, we wanted to provide some ideas for how to prepare eco-responsible Christmas parties, but everyone adapts to their own scale and what we want above all is that you have a nice celebrate with the people you love!
By the way, don't forget that we are waiting for your recipe ideas in the comments to celebrate a Christmas that will awaken our taste buds!
