Christmas planning in July

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When I was thinking about my Christmas Planning in July series, I began contemplating how I can make our Christmas this year less wasteful. By waste I mean using items for single purpose that are then not recyclable, reusable or able to be repurposed and making sure when I cater for events this Christmas I keep food wastage top of mind.

It also meant a perfect tie in with Plastic Free July! If you haven’t heard of Plastic Free July, it aims to raise awareness of the problems with single-use disposable plastic and challenges us to do something about it. You can read more about the challenge here and it is never too late to join.

Don’t feel overwhelmed about the thought of using no plastic at all in July. Any change you can make, even if it is for a day can make a difference. You can choose to:

Avoid single-use plastic packaging
Target takeaway items (the Top 4: bags, bottles, straws and coffee cups)
Go completely plastic-free

And it can be for one day, one week, all of July or from now on. Register here to join the challenge. I am targeting takeaway items.

Last year I wrote a super detailed post and shared a checklist with 50+ things to do in the lead up to Christmas that you can download for free here. If you haven’t undertaken some Christmas planning in the middle of the year, this would be a great place to start.

For me this year, with the background set for a more conscious approach to the waste produced this Christmas (and now) here are five activities I am going to be working on over the next few weeks/months:

Keeping all glass jars – I keep some glass jars that I use, but admit that a number do end up in the recycling bin. I am going to create a space where I can easily store these glass jars and aim to repurpose them in my Christmas preparations.
Collect natural items for Christmas decorations – I like to make some Christmas decorations, so the kids and I will be on the look out on our walks for natural items we can use, eg acorns, gum nuts, pine cones etc.
Pickling and preserving winter produce – this will not only make great gifts but will also be a great way to repurpose the jars we will be collecting.
Christmas present list – I also shared last year how my sisters and I have a Christmas gift idea spreadsheet that we use to list ideas of gifts our kids might like. It helps us buy things our nephews and nieces would like and gives additional info like clothing size, colour preferences etc. When I put together our list this year, I will endeavour to fill the list with sustainable items.
Theme for Christmas – each year I choose a theme for Christmas which flows through decorations, food, wrapping etc. This year I will work on something that is more sustainable.