CONFESSIONS OF A KNACKERED MUMS ECO(ISH) CHRISTMAS
I've spent the last couple of months helping running a couple of rounds of the Crap-free Christmas Bootcamp, and helping the Knackered Mums in the Clubhouse make some festive sustainable(ish) changes. So you would think then that I would have this whole 'Eco Christmas' thing nailed then right?
Ermmmm. Kind of. Maybe. Not really....
You see, and I've been saying this ad infinitum in the run up to Christmas, it's a journey. And we won't change our Christmas' overnight. Indeed, we might never arrive at that 'perfect eco Christmas' because (whispers) I don't think it exists. Or if it does, I'm not sure how possible/realistic it is, especially when there are kids and/or wider family involved.
I spend November vowing to not really get the kids much as there's nothing they really need, and then December panicking that they won't have anything to open. On Christmas morning I feel anxious about all the presents under the tree, and where they're going to live, and the fact that the kids already have so much stuff, at the same time as worrying the kids will feel disappointed. It's not easy.
Let's face it, the greenest Christmas would be one that's not celebrated.
All of the extra food, the presents, the decorations, are inherently unsustainable.
But so is living. And it would be a pretty joyless life if we denied ourselves all the things that bring us, and those around us, joy. So what we're left with is that another C-word that can cause so much angst - compromise.
So in that vein, settle yourself in for a tale of one Knackered Mums Eco(ish) Christmas - in all it's imperfection.
Advent Calendars
Every year I talk about the 'Advent Activity' lorry that we do with our kids, which is one of the first things I did to try and shift the focus from 'stuff' to 'experiences' when I started to think about trying to do Christmas a bit differently. We have an Advent lorry that my Nana gave our eldest for his first Christmas - it has 24 drawers in it, each a little bit smaller than a matchbox (ie too small to really fit much into). So I had the idea of popping a slip of paper in there each day with an Advent Activity in it - things like 'decorate the tree', and 'star in your school nativity play'. Many of them things we would have been doing already to get ready (eg making mince pies etc) but with the odd treat thrown in like a trip to our local town pantomime (not this year sadly).
And it worked really well when they were little, and there was lots more time to fill and they were more easily entertained by the prospect of baking with mummy. Now they're both older, it's much harder, and with school and homework, most of the activities don't really get done, but they are still loath to knock it on the head.
So far, so good right..?
Ermmm, here comes the confession. My mum died the year after our year buying nothing new, and would always buy the kids an Advent Calendar. And the year before she died she bought them a Lego Advent Calendar. When Christmas came around after she had died, my auntie (my mum's sister) rang up and asked if she could buy the boys an Advent Calendar each year as my mum now couldn't, and honestly, it's still the loveliest thing, and still brings tears to my eyes. So there we go - my boys get a plastic encrusted Lego Advent Calendar each year. And do know what? They LOVE it. They absolutely love it. And I know it's not eco. But it's an imperfection I'm more than happy to embrace for the joy it brings (and the memories it holds for me).
Decorations
I'm pretty happy with our decoration situation:
- We have a pompom Christmas tree that we made about 4 years ago which gets stored away in the loft each year and then trundled out. We also have two trees made from old pallets - one for the conservatory and one for outside. All are fitted with LED lights, and we turn them off when we're out and at night. The outdoor one is fitted with a timer so it's only on for a few hours.
- All our other decs are a mish-mash of things from previous years, including the Christmas lego from the aforementioned Advent Calendars...!
Gift wrapping
I'm that irritating person who snatches up the wrapping paper off the floor as soon as it's discarded and then sits there picking off the tape. Any reasonable sized bits then get squirrelled away for next year (my mother in law has even been known to take them away and iron them...).
I bought two new rolls of paper from a local independent stationers that are recycled kraft paper, but they did have a plastic sleeve. The rest was paper left over from previous years and reused bits and bobs.
Confession: there were still a few bits of metallic-y paper bought many moons ago.
Last year we bought some Christmas paper tape from Babipur and still had plenty left this year. I'm not sure ours still believe in Father Christmas, but if you're more careful than we are about making sure your FC pressies have different wrapping and tape, you might need to get a bit more inventive.
I used an old ball of green wool that has been kicking around for ages to bundle things together in place of ribbon.
I'm a firm convert to fabric wrapping this year having wrapped a few gifts this way - OMG, SO much quicker and easier! I'll be scouring the charity shops for head scarves and other suitable bits this year!
Presents for our kids
Their lists were pretty book and Lego heavy respectively, so fairly easy.
Lego - secondhand from eBay.
We had one set that was listed as 'a few pieces missing' which is stretching the truth a little, and we're now trying to source the missing bits in time for his birthday in April! The rest were all fab.
Books - we're lucky enough to have an independent bookshop not too far from us and managed to get quite a few of the books from there. The rest were from The Bookshop, as well as a couple secondhand from eBay.
Laptop - our eldest has just started secondary school and asked for a laptop, and given the strong possibility of home schooling again in January we felt this was a good investment. We got a refurbished one from these guys, who donate all their profits to charity, so felt like a bit on a win-win.
Stockings - these were the biggest headache, and there were a few 'less than sustainable' bits and pieces in there.
Confessions:
- my husband randomly bought them a packet of Jaffa cakes each to go in their stockings
- as well as a regular toothbrush each (if I had known, I would have got these ones with replaceable heads)
- there were also candy canes (leftover from last year) that are plastic wrapped and probably contain palm oil, as well as some other sweets that undoubtedly wouldn't score highly on the eco scale
Most of the family transferred money to us and asked us to get them something, which makes life easier (apart from the wrapping up...!) as we then have no issues with buying stuff secondhand!
Other presents
We've managed over the years to pare down our gift list quite significantly. Both of my parents are no longer with us, and we decided a few years ago between the various aunts and uncles to only buy for the kids.
We bought my brother's kids an annual Whirli subscription back in May, as birthday and Christmas presents for both of them. But I also sent them a Bake at Home kit from my friend's brilliant business (thinking they might be driving my sister in law mad in the run up to the big day and this might distract them for about 3 and half minutes) and a kilo of Christmas sweets from another local business. Because isn't that what you send to other people's kids when you won't be there to witness the fall-out..?!!
My husband and I tend not to really buy each other anything but he got me a few stocking bits (sweets and chocolate), and I saw a 'Storm Pooper' print on the Uranus loo roll site and couldn't resist getting it for him and the kids. It's printed on FSC paper with water based inks.
And because I didn't manage to get organised with my husband's usual photo Advent Calendar, I put together a photo book of our 2020 - I had a quick Ecosia search and found Pixum, who use FSC certified products and are carbon neutral - if anyone knows of any other eco-friendly picture book providers do let me know!
Food
Confession: We're not vegan. Or even veggie.
We opted for a chicken rather than a turkey, just because none of us are actually that keen on turkey.
Confession: my husband somehow managed a 5kg chicken (free range but not organic) from our local butchers. For five of us. Our kids were smaller than this when they were born.
There were a LOT of leftovers... BUT they've all been frozen. AND I made slow cooker chicken stock from the bones, so feeling pretty smug there.
We also had pigs in blankets (from the local butcher but not sure of their provenance) and sausage meat stuffing (ditto).
We get a regular organic veg box from Riverford, which makes Christmas dinner veggies SO easy. All the usual Christmas stuff is there - sprouts, parsnips, red cabbage etc, all organic and plastic-free, delivered to our door without me even having to think about it.
Leftovers: We had Christmas pizza topped with leftovers (including brussel sprouts..) on Boxing Day, and Bubble and Squeak the day after, and everything else has been frozen.
I love to bake so made Christmas cakes, mince pies, Christmas pud etc.
Confession: I didn't get the dried fruit from the refill shop, so a reasonable number of plastic bags into the bin.
Confession: There is a teeny bit (a lot) of plastic wrapped chocolates that are probably choc-full of palm oil and made by companies that are officially gits in the house. They taste bloody lovely but I do feel quite guilty.
If someone could please make it their 2021 mission to create their own ethical chocolate company that does a tin or tub or delicious chocolates in time for next Christmas I would be very grateful.
Cards
We failed to send any this year - I'd love to say it's been a conscious decision made for eco reasons, but in reality it's more apathy/laziness...
Crackers
I think this is one my favourite traditions that we've started - we bought a set of reusable crackers several years ago and they get dragged out of the loft each year.
Everyone picks a name out of a hat to see whose cracker they have to prepare, and then they have to make a hat, find an appropriate joke, and have a £2 budget for a small (ideally plastic-free) present. We also stick a scratch card (not eco at all, but you've got to be in it to win it..) and a chocolate brussel sprout.
This year I decided to have a go at making a reusable fabric hat for my mother in law with some Christmas fabric that I've had for years. I was pretty pleased with it!)
Confession: the £2 limit on gifts does make it hard to find anything decent/not plastic tat. We may need to reassess this (although our youngest bought me a mini bar of Tony's Chocolonely from our local Refill Shop so did very well!)
I don't know if I feel better or worse seeing it all written down like that..!
The whole point of this post isn't really to tell you about what we have and haven't done, our successes and our failures, it's to try and reassure you that imperfection is ok - especially at Christmas.
It comes down to having a more thoughtful, more deliberate Christmas. Accepting some compromises, chipping away, and slowly working towards the Christmas you consciously want to create.
How about you?
What went well this year?
And what are you bookmarking to work on next year?
Let me know in the comments!
INTRODUCING THE CRAP-FREE CHRISTMAS COURSE!
Join me and a merry band of similarly challenged Crap-free Christmas wannabees as we dive into into the nitty gritty, the practicalities and the emotional minefields of a festive season with less crap and more joy!
