The holiday season is known for stocking stuffers, decorations, shiny wrapping paper, tinsel, Christmas cards, bon bons with paper hats and plastic toys, novelty KK gifts and more food on the table than we can possibly eat.

It’s a season of fun-filled excess, but in 2019 when school students are striking to demand action on climate change and fires are ravaging huge portions of our country, it’s time to take a BKIND approach to our festivities.

This doesn’t mean foregoing the joy of all the little things that make Christmas such a special time, but instead being more thoughtful and conscious of how we consume this December.

We’ve pulled together our tips on how to have a more sustainable Christmas…

• Decorate thoughtfully

Avoid buying new decorations this year and check out Pinterest videos on how to make your own from things you have around the house, or how to update existing items.

If you must buy new, avoid tinsel (it will spend the rest of eternity decorating landfill), and opt for a few quality items that you will keep for years to come.

• Wrap better

Stay away from those shiny prints that catch your eye in the store, they might look great under your tree but being scrunched up and thrown away 5 minutes into Christmas Day is not worth it.

Get creative and use newspaper and magazine clippings (from ones you’ve already read) to create on-trend collage coverings. You can even theme these to suit your giftee, making your gift all the more special.

Fabric is another cute way to wrap your gifts, but try to opt for off cuts!

• Gift consciously

Gifting is tricky, especially when it comes to those hard-to-buy-for relatives. To avoid giving them something that could end up in landfill, opt for items you know they want or need, or ones that have a function (like undies and socks!).

Gift cards are a perfect way to avoid wastage - and your recipient gets to have a ‘treat yourself’ moment when they redeem them too. 

Christmas is the time to celebrate the bonds we have with those special people in our life, so an experience or adventure might be another perfect gift option.

• Trim the spread 

Christmas Day is really the time to go hard or go home when it comes to the buffet at your grandparent’s house, but if your grazing table is rivalling those spotted on influencer’s Instagram Stories, you might be able to cut back.

Consider whether you need 15 different types of cheese or whether you might be better off with 8, so there’s less food heading into the bin at the end of the day! 

• GIVIT

The holiday season is for giving, including to those less fortunate. Help out the people in your community by giving what you can (goods or funds) to a charity, like our partner GIVIT.

GIVIT makes it easy to contribute, connecting those who have with those who need. You can find out more here.