Christmas Recycled

Available for over a year

Ever thought of renting a Christmas tree? Borrowing toys? Swapping party dresses? Drinking a Christmas tipple made from bread destined for landfill? Probably not, but as the climate emergency deepens, perhaps we need to add them to the festive traditions. Food, packaging, decorations and gifts are all part of the festivities, but they’re also having a major impact on the health of the planet. Each Christmas, we throw away 42 million plates of food with enough gravy to fill an Olympic pool. 114,000 tonnes of plastic packaging will be binned and not recycled and we use 227,000 miles of wrapping paper – at the expense of 50,000 trees. Christmas really is the gift that keeps on taking. But there is hope. Rima Ahmed meets a group of dedicated Christmas-loving pioneers providing the answer to a question we’ve ignored for too long – Can we be sustainable at Christmas?