Zero Waste Shopping This Holiday Season: Check Our Top 8 Tips!
Reduce your holiday waste with our top 8 zero waste shopping tips! Celebrate sustainably this season while keeping the planet in mind.
Estimated Read Time: 6 minutes
If you’re here, it’s likely because you’re committed to reducing your waste—congrats! However, you’ve hit the biggest hurdle of the year: the holiday season.
During the holidays, Americans toss 25% more trash than at any other time of year.
Behind the twinkling lights and delicious feasts lies the pressure to shop ‘til you drop for food, gifts, and everything in between. With plastic-wrapped items filling every shelf, zero waste shopping can feel nearly impossible.
Not to mention once the holidays are over, much of this waste ends up in landfills, where it emits a mix of greenhouse gases into our precious environment.
So, how can you stick to your sustainable goals while still soaking up all the festive cheer?
That’s where we come in! ZeroWasteStore offers sustainable, zero waste alternatives to everyday products, allowing you to swap out plastic without sacrificing anything fun. Here are tips to help you spread holiday cheer without leaving a trail of trash.
Let's get into it!
Contents
- How Can We Reduce Waste This Holiday Season?
- 8 Zero Waste Shopping Tips For The Holiday Season
- Zero Waste Shopping Online vs. In-person
- Stuck For Sustainable Gift Ideas? Check Out Our Guides
How Can We Reduce Waste This Holiday Season?
When it comes to reducing holiday waste, it’s best to reflect on where that waste is coming from…
1. Food
It’s expected that 312 million pounds of food will be wasted this Thanksgiving! Not to mention all the plastic packaging that comes from the holiday candy and snack stash.
2. Gift wrap
2.3 million pounds of wrapping paper ends up in landfills each year. Just think of all that effort getting tangled in tape to wrap oddly shaped presents that goes to waste!
3. Unwanted Gifts
As good as our fake smile might be, sometimes well-intentioned gifts aren’t what we wanted. Whether it’s an impulse buy, wrong size, or joke that didn’t quite land, these pressies get sent to landfill as soon as Nan or Auntie isn’t looking.
4. Decorations
Whether you’re team tinsel or prefer something more demure, most holiday decorations are made from plastic. It’s best to pick sentimental pieces you want to keep for years or DIY your own decorations.
5. Returns
Sending a gift back and swapping it out for another sounds like a sustainable solution, right? Unfortunately not. Returns are responsible for 5 billion pounds of landfill waste and 15 million tons of carbon emissions annually.
Once you’ve identified where the waste is coming from, it’s easier to make changes towards reducing it. See below for 8 top tips for reducing your holiday waste, whether it’s Thanksgiving dinner or Christmas morning gifting!
8 Zero Waste Shopping Tips For The Holidays
1. Make a list (and check it twice)
No, we’re not talking about sorting your family members into ‘naughty’ and ‘nice’. We mean to write a list of thoughtful gift ideas for each person before you hit the shops or open your laptop. Sleep on it, and check it again, to reduce impulse buying or over-shopping.
You can add your ideas to a ZeroWasteStore Gift registry so they’re there and ready when you are!
2. Be mindful about returns
It’s estimated that almost 80% of returns go to the landfill as it’s cheaper than processing, inspecting, repacking a shipping to a new customer. It’s generally a good idea to avoid buying clothes for someone unless they’ve already tried it on, and steer away from any item they may already have purchased themselves. If you receive a gift you’d like to return, consider donating it instead.
It’s always better to be sure the recipient will like a gift rather than taking a risk; not just for your relationship, but for the planet too!
3. Choose quality over quantity
A huge pile of presents under the tree might look impressive, but if it’s all low-quality, disposable items, there’s a chance it’ll all be forgotten by next Christmas. Instead, opt for fewer items that are durable and will be loved for a long time (like the person you’re gifting them to!).
Zero waste kits are great high-quality ‘wow’ presents!
4. Watch out for packaging
It’s easy to be lured in by cute packaging, but remember, it’s what’s inside that counts. Avoid overly packaging gifts that will fill up the trash bags come Christmas morning.
At ZeroWasteStore, we pride ourselves on our minimal (ahem sophisticated) packaging. Here the product takes center stage - no need for bells, whistles, or waste!
5. Opt for experience gifts
Some of the best gifts you can receive don’t fit under the tree: memories! Purchasing tickets for an activity, show, or spa treatment is an amazing zero waste way to show someone you love them.
For travel lovers
Explore Get Your Guide for experience vouchers all over the globe.
For bookworms
Kindle vouchers let them stock up their Kindle bookshelf.
For wellness seekers
Check out Mindbody for retreat vouchers that offer a chance to unwind and recharge.
6. Wrap your gifts without gift wrap
‘‘Wait, what?!’’. You heard us right. Challenge yourself and your friends or family to wrap gifts in reusable or upcycled materials. Think old magazines, t-shirts, tote bags, the shower curtain… okay, maybe not the last one, but you get the picture.
This fun challenge will help reduce paper waste, as well as the glitter and plastic-coated gift wrap that can’t be recycled. Plus, it might start a creative new holiday tradition.
(Bonus tip: keep your cards and cut out the cute pictures on the front to use as gift tags next year!)
7. Turn leftovers into baked goods
No space left in the refrigerator for the Thanksgiving leftovers? No problem - get creative and turn fruit and veggie scraps into sweet treats:
Pumpkin Pie Cookies
Use the remaining pumpkin puree to make soft and spiced cookies, perfect for snacking.
Cranberry Sauce Oat Bars
Mix leftover cranberry sauce with oats and a bit of sugar to create delicious, tangy oat bars that are perfect for breakfast or dessert.
Sweet Potato Brownies
Use leftover sweet potatoes to whip up fudgy brownies. Simply mash the sweet potatoes, mix with cocoa powder, flour, sugar, and eggs, and bake until set for a rich, chocolatey treat.
And whatever food can’t be consumed, chuck it in the compost.
Check out this blog for more sustainable Thanksgiving tips!
8. Bulk buy household essentials
Do you have family staying over the holidays? Don’t get stuck in an awkward, "Umm, I think you’re out of toilet paper…" situation. From bathroom essentials to kitchen towels, bulk buy everything in advance to cut down carbon emissions and shipping packaging.
Did you know we offer Bulk Buy discounts on many of our ZWS Essentials products?
Check these out:
- Dish Cloths: Buy 4 Get 1 Free With Code BULKSPONGE
- Laundry Detergent Sheets: Buy 4 Get 1 Free With Code BULKDETERGENT
- Dish Washing Blocks: Buy 4 Get 1 Free With Code BULKDISHSOAP
Zero Waste Shopping Online vs. In-Person
One key debate with zero waste shopping remains: is online or in-store better? In this guide, we dive deep into the perks and pitfalls of both.
They both involve transportation that contributes to global warming, and they both can lead to impulse buying, so you need to look carefully at the individual store's practices. In short, it matters more who you’re buying from.
For example, at ZeroWasteStore we offer carbon-neutral shipping in plastic-free packaging, with USPs Everyday Mail Carrier rather than scheduled deliveries, to reduce carbon emissions. This option may be better than making multiple long journeys to zero-waste stores or impulse buying plastic-packaged products at the nearest store.
See, you don’t have to choose between being a Scrooge or compromising your values! It is possible to commit to zero waste shopping during the holiday season.
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