How to be sustainable this Christmas

For many of us, Christmas is a time of indulgence, as we reflect on the events of the year, spend time with our loved ones and seize the opportunity to relax and recover before the return to work, school and all those other responsibilities. But our Christmas celebrations can have a heavy environmental impact.

Here, we look at some of the ways to make your Christmas more sustainable, without compromising on the festive fun.

If you’re not reusing last year’s decorations, you could make your own, from natural products like pinecones and berries or from materials in your recycling bin. How about making your decorations edible this year? Get creative with hanging biscuits, popcorn garlands, marshmallow snowmen and meringue stars. 

The artificial versus real Christmas tree debate is long standing. But to limit your impact on the planet, and unless you’re investing for the long term, get a real tree. Artificial trees need to be used for at least 12 Christmases to have a lower carbon footprint than a real one¹.

Once you’re finished with your tree, recycle it rather than sending it to landfill. Trees that are recycled and used for chippings or firewood have a much lower carbon footprint than those that are thrown away1.

Or why not go a step further and buy a potted Christmas tree to reuse each year, or rent one? Rented trees are planted for 11 months of the year then made available to hire during December. They’re then collected in January and replanted to be used again next Christmas. 

Lights on your tree or decorating your garden is a non-compromising Christmas tradition for many of us, but we don’t need to spend a fortune powering them. Choose energy efficient LED lights which use almost 90% less power than incandescent lights¹ and consider solar powered Christmas lights for outdoors.

You can use smart sockets to set a schedule for your Christmas lights to come on later in the day when it’s starting to get dark, and to turn them off before you go to bed, to avoid wasting energy when no one is up to enjoy them. 

Try to go for quality not quantity, or adopt a Secret Santa approach - you can invest more money into one thoughtful gift instead of lots of little gifts that may end up in landfill. Perhaps the recipient would value the gift of an experience – afternoon tea or a cinema outing – rather than more stuff?

Shopping locally, perhaps at a Christmas fayre, can cut down on packaging. And don’t forget to check out the sustainability credentials of the business you’re buying from. For example, many small businesses are already supplied with 100% renewable electricity², like we offer our small business customers.

Most wrapping paper isn’t recyclable, and the glitter, synthetic inks and plastic coating often means it ends up in landfill. Consider alternatives like fabric, paper bags or brown paper which you can decorate yourself. Reusing gift bags and ribbon from last year is a great way to reduce your waste too.

Writing and receiving Christmas cards is part of the magic of Christmas. But one billion Christmas cards are thrown away every year when they could be recycled³. Consider sending your loved ones cards that can be recycled and be sure to recycle those you receive too. Or why not send digital cards this year? It’s an easy and low carbon way to spread some Christmas cheer. 

In the UK we waste almost 270,000 tons of food over the Christmas period⁴, which has a big impact on the planet and can easily be avoided. Shopping smarter so you only buy what you need, using leftovers and making use of the freezer are all great ways to make your Christmas dinner more sustainable. There are lots of great recipes out there if you need some inspiration on how to best use your leftover turkey and vegetables – and there’s always the classic turkey curry.

If you do find you’ve over catered, Christmas is a great time to make friends with the neighbours by offering them some untouched tasty treats.

And cooking your big meal on Christmas Day, whether it’s turkey, salmon or a nut roast, can be an energy intensive process – it takes the same amount of energy to heat a full oven as it does a nearly empty one. Make the most of your oven, and the energy that goes into heating it, by cooking several dishes at once. 

We all want our homes to be warm and cosy for Christmas. And having an energy efficient boiler means keeping your home at the perfect temperature while using less energy and spending less on your heating bills than if you have an older, less efficient boiler.

A smart thermostat can give you even more control over your home’s heating, even while you’re out – meaning that you’ll never heat an empty home, but it’ll always be warm for when you return.

Over the festive period we might all spend more time on our devices, but remind any visiting family and friends to turn them off after use. Appliances such as TVs, games consoles and laptops all use energy when left on standby so need to be turned off at the socket to help save energy and reduce your energy bills.

With a smart meter you can easily monitor and control your energy usage, so you can keep an eye on how much energy you’re using to power your full house over Christmas in the chilly, dark winter months.

If you’re not hosting but visiting loved ones in their homes, plan ahead to make your travel more sustainable. To reduce carbon emissions, use public transport if possible, rather than piling into the car. 

With all the extra energy we use over Christmas, choosing a renewables-backed source makes even more sense. At E.ON, we supply all our customers’ homes with 100% renewable electricity². Our customers can have peace of mind that powering their Christmas lights or Christmas viewing will not cost the Earth.

Why not take action for climate and make this Christmas your most sustainable yet, and start your own family traditions? You might want to begin an annual Christmas jumper swap with friends, or introduce reusable crackers and advent calendars that come out each year.

However you choose to celebrate Christmas, make it merry and sustainable.

^{1. Energy Saving Trust: How to be sustainable this festive season}

^{2. Electricity backed by 100% renewable sources. Electricity sourced from E.ON's renewable assets, agreements with independent UK generators and the purchase of renewable electricity certificates. The electricity supplied to your home or business comes from the National Grid.}

^{3. House Beautiful: How to recycle Christmas cards, Christmas trees and wrapping paper}

^{4. Respect Food: How much food goes to waste during Christmas, and how can we prevent it?}