5 Eco Friendly Christmas Decor Ideas for a Zero Waste Christmas

As another Christmas is just around the corner, it's time to get creative with how we manage our waste over the festive period. Here at the Ecard Mint headquarters, we fancy ourselves pretty knowledgable when it comes to all things Christmas so we have put together a list of our favourite Eco-Friendly Christmas Decor for …

Share Post

As another Christmas is just around the corner, it’s time to get creative with how we manage our waste over the festive period. Here at the Ecard Mint headquarters, we fancy ourselves pretty knowledgable when it comes to all things Christmas so we have put together a list of our favourite Eco-Friendly Christmas Decor for a greener, more sustainable Christmas.

1.Dried Orange Decorations | A Timeless Christmas Classic – 6 Hours including Cooking!
What you will need to make this zesty decoration.

1 Orange (Per Decoration)
Some string
A handful of Cinnamon sticks
A cup of Cloves
1 Skewer

First, you will slice your orange into pieces that are about half a centimetre thick. Please remember the thinner the slice, the quicker the drying time will be.

Next, take your skewer or any kind of stick and create a hole right at the top of the slice. Remember you have to thread your string through the hole so make sure it’s big enough!

Next, put the orange slice with a hole directly onto the metal rack rather than a baking tray. Put the oven at 60* for up to five hours. Once they are fully dried out, leave them overnight for good measure.

Now to time to decorate. Push the cloves into the slice in a decorative fashion around the edges of the slice.

Thread the string. tie a knot. Then repeat on each one to change the length of the garland. Add some cinnamon sticks in between the slices to finish!

The National Trust has made a super easy to follow video on this – <a href=”http://nationaltrust.org.uk/features/how-to-make-scented-orange-slice-tree-decorations”>watch here</a>.

2. DIY Wrapping Paper | Think Reusable  – 1 Hour including wrapping!
Wrap your Christmas presents the eco-friendly way this year.

Bows and ribbons can make your Christmas gifts look glorious, but concerns are growing that these Christmas trimmings could be harming the planet. This concern is so great that when Hobbycraft released their Christmas craft trends for 2019 they reported a rise in eco-conscious craft makers seeking out materials to make homemade Christmas gift-wrap and tags.

You will be surprised by how much alternative wrapping paper is just sitting around the house, below we have listed some of Ecard Mint’s favourite eco-friendly wrapping paper solutions!

  1. Maps from old magazines, leaflets from past museums and attractions or just an out of date A-Z Roadmap could be used… Plus the older they are, they will have that vintage look that it’s so popular today.
  2. Fabric – That’s right old pieces of fabric, they are easy to customize – use a furoshiki-style knot to fasten it for something a bit fancier.
  3. Free and easy, ask your local store for some older editions or even Foreign language newspapers and comic sections for something a little different.

Consider wrapping your gifts with reusable wrapping materials and decorate them with a spring of holly instead of using throwaway tags and ribbons.

3. Make your own Advent Calander
Fill it with anything you like, from Teabags or Chocolate here’s how to make your very own, reusable Awesome Advent Calander!

Now you will need a fair few things to create this, and the awesome Prima have rounded it up in a rather easy article.

Plain fabric or linen
Fabric marker
Staple gun
Duct tape
3 Different Coloured threads
Sewing machine
Hardboard (60cm x 70cm)
Polyester wadding
Ribbon
Needle and pins
Buttons

Follow the instructions <a href=”https://www.prima.co.uk/craft/sewing/how-to/a36517/make-your-own-advent-calendar”>here</a>

4. Eco-friendly Gits.

After searching the interwebs for this years top eco-friendly Christmas gifts we found the guys over at <a href=”http://friendsoftheearth.uk”>Friends of the Earth</a> have made a rather nice Christmas package with a Christmas Bee Saver Kit, which includes Wrapping Paper, Flower Seeds, Diary and Posters.

Find the Christmas Bee Saver Kit <a href=”https://friendsoftheearth.uk/bees/donate-save-britains-bees-get-your-bee-saver-kit-today?source=FN1609005″>here.</a>

5. SEND ECARDS RATHER THAN PAPER CARDS!

Do something good with and save on paper, carbon while sending something unique, we have animated Christmas ecards for all occasions this Christmas, funny Christmas ecards and also Christmas Ecards for businesses.

So Say Hello with Ecard Mint this Christmas, happy holidays from everyone here at Ecard Mint headquarters.

Send Christmas Ecards now

Ecard Mint Elf

Ecard Mint Elf

I'm a helpful Elf that lives in the Ecard Mint blog - Say Hello