Wishing you a ‘Circular’ Festive Season!

Why not give experiences/vouchers rather than physical gifts?

Make your present more memorable with an experience.

Here are just a few things you could do:

• Buy tickets to shows/concerts/events
• Give a cinema pass
• Make restaurant reservations
• Give vouchers for favourite stores

One or two high-quality, durable gifts is better than lots of low-quality short-life gifts.

Why not have a Kris Kringle at your event, so you just buy one quality gift for one person, rather than low-quality gifts for everyone?

If you have a particular gift in mind for someone, try to choose the most sustainable option possible.

• Buy vintage/refurbished instead of new
• Avoid packaging
• Buy locally made
• Choose sustainable materials
• Buy repairable

When it comes to these items, it is really easy to choose sustainably.

Cards

• Opt to send e-cards – it’s fun, free and fast!
• Make your own cards with the family from reused items and recycled cardboard
• If buying cards, always choose 100% recycled.

Gifts

Presents look more beautiful when you know they are better for the planet:

• Try furoshiki - using squares of reusable fabric for gift wrapping (see this online furoshiki tutorial) that can be reused every year.
• Use previously used wrapping paper
• Wrap with newspaper or kids' drawings
• Use 100% recycled brown paper
• Choose reusable ribbons/bows

As an alternative to real trees, you could always make your own Chrissy tree from upcycled or reused materials.

Believe it or not, they can be more fun than the real thing!

If you are set on a real tree, why not buy a more sustainable live native tree or plant in a pot and reuse it every year?

Our favourite is the Wollemi Pine – once thought to be extinct, but now available in most good nurseries!

Here are some other great native alternative Chrissy tree suggestions by Australian Geographic. 

Making your own house and tree decorations can be a lot of fun for the whole family!

Keep a crafty box leading up to the festive season with items that may be useful for this such as papers, foils, toilet rolls, cardboard, string etc.

You can also use leaves, flowers, gumnuts etc from the garden too.

Here are some great simple DIY Chrissy decorations ideas.  

Rather than buying something new, why not check your wardrobe first for items you may have overlooked for a while?

Simply adding festive or colourful accessories to an outfit can make it feel new and exciting!

If options are limited, try to buy vintage or pre-loved outfit items from op-shops, vintage stores, Facebook Marketplace or e-Bay, or perhaps borrow items from friends for the day.

Plan your menu, write a shopping list and stick to it!

Don’t forget to check your pantry, fridge and freezer first before buying more items to prevent doubling up.

If cooking new recipes, avoid buying specialty ingredients that you will use just once. Substitute them with ingredients you already have or will use up – often it can taste as good if not better.

Consider having more local and seasonal food options.

Try one of the many delicious plant-based alternative menu items out there.

For large events, share the cooking load by allocating set dishes per guest to bring to avoid waste.

• Avoid leaving food out of the fridge all day – just serve when ready to eat. This is very important for seafood, meats, cheeses and desserts.
• Store excess or left over food in reusable containers, or use reusable bees wax wraps or silicone bowl covers.
• Avoid single use wrappings like cling film or foil.
• Always store your leftovers carefully in the fridge - keeping them on the ‘use me next’ shelf, or in the freezer – labelled and dated well.

Leftover meals can often taste better than the original meal.

There are thousands of really creative and delicious festive leftover recipes examples – from curries to pizzas and more.

Hosting a BIG meal event or have limited fridge/freezer space? Why not invite attendees to bring a container to take home some leftovers too? 

Check our SCRRApp - Rubbish and Recycling App and set up a good system to make sure all your:

• dry paper/cardboard, empty food tins and cans, clean foil, and empty plastic bottles/containers labelled 1, 2 or 5 goes in the yellow lidded recycling bin
• glass bottles and jars goes in the purple lidded glass-only bin (or check if your drinks cans, bottles, and cartons can be returned for a refund through a local refund collection point)
• fruit and veg scraps goes in your own compost bin or worm farm if you have one
• all other food waste (yes, including meat, seafood, dairy etc – everything!) goes into the green lidded FOGO bin