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Tell Whirli your tips for little ways you can make Christmas more eco-friendly: £200 voucher prize

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  • L17L17 Regular
    edited Nov 5, 2021 6:11PM
    A lot of toys my little one is getting are second hand: like a toy kitchen! My older child is getting experience vouchers which saves on landfill plastic! Regarding wrap, I keep all gift bags so I reuse these for presents. 
    We also give away old toys to other boys and girls to stop them going to
    landfill, my little boy loves helping with this 
  • We reuse wrapping paper from previous years and have started using paper tape or ribbon to wrap presents instead of sellotape. We are big fans of eco brands for presents and encourage family to do the same.
  • Recycle the stuff you can reuse the year after, for example gift bags, wrapping paper that didn't get ruined, presents you think would suit other people better etc. 
  • Hello, so we decided and agreed not to exchange physical gifts this year but on Christmas day make a cake together, go for a walk, play some table games and make our own toys from anything we can find at our house starting from pasta, paper, old clothes etc. 💚
  • We would wrap all the presents in fabrics this year instead of wrapping paper, that we can reuse in wrapping different presents in the future!
  • I love an eco-Christmas & am always looking for ways to reduce waste, reuse or repurpose what we already have, & buy second-hand whenever possible!
     For wrapping - I try to fold & save as much paper as possible, I'll also use any newspaper or magazine (although have less of these around these days!) - I've bought some recyclable paper tape which is fab.
      For gift tags - I've cut some old cards from last year or I'll just write directly on the paper.
     We don't buy gifts for adults & try to do charity shop/second-hand gifts for the gifts as so much nice stuff, hardly used/read toys/books are donated & it's often a bargain!
     Merry Christmas all :)
  • We make our own crackers as there is so much plastic tat and uncrecyclable wrapping in shop bought ones. We add a scratch card for adults for a bit of fun and a small gift eg a little (non plastic) toy for children and a sweet/chocolate of course. Kids like making them too! You can buy bangers online and a pack of 30 bangers will last years.
  • We all deserve a happy Christmas this year but this is about saving our planet for our childrens futures let’s be together as a whole family that’s what Christmas is about quality family time with good food 
  • We are buying our children's gifts second hand from carboot sales, charity shops and online apps. They are a fraction of the cost and when we finish with them we will gift or sell them on. We also check our wrapping paper to make sure it's sustainable and doesn't contain plastics (no glittery or shiney wrap usually) x
  • We make our own tree decorations from salt dough and the cardboard from cereal boxes.
    We also use wrapping paper that can be recycled ♻️ (we don't use bows) and presents are in a reusable sack. 
    We have a clear out before Christmas and donate toys to the school and clothes to the charity shop.
    We use the water from the veg to make the gravy and we use a reusable Christmas table cloth instead of a new paper one every year (saving the trees 🌳). Leftovers go in a turkey and ham pie for boxing day (no food waste).
    Christmas lights are on a timer (to save energy) and we use rechargeable batteries in toys and musical decorations.
    Any boxes from toys get cut up and saved for future projects (usually my sons homework, he's just made a roman bath) or there taken in to school for junk modelling.
  • edited Nov 6, 2021 1:08PM
    I have a large family with lots of young kids . We swap toys and wrap them up as presents. We have a big clear out around Christmas time and give lots of toys /clothes to charity. We reuse gift bags from previous year if they're still in tact. X 

  • I browse thrift/charity shops/jumble sales and look for nice toys that can be used. I always recycle our used toys as well.
  • At Christmas time I buy pre-loved toys and books from charity shops for our little ones.
    Once they are gift wrapped the children have no idea they aren't new. By doing this I am reusing items rather than buying new, spending my money in charity shops to help good causes and not getting myself into debt to buy gifts.
    Once the children outgrow them I    re-donate to local good causes. 
  • We have gone for second hand toys in good condition. My daughter is at the age where she doesn't need the "latest popular toy" so why buy brand new, when there are so many people recycling or clearing out pre loved toys. 
    Every year I also wrap gifts in recyclable brown paper and tie with pretty ribbon that can be reused. 

    We use the same Christmas tree every year and add a new ornament that's handmade too. 
  • Sharing the delights of such a fab new service that is Whirli amongst my family and friends should surely help to make christmas a little more eco friendly this year as this great toy swap service has definitely been made for mums like me who previously might have gone through much more plastic and toys than needed and will encourage my family and friends to change their habits ( hopefully ) ! 
  • We re-use gift bags. I try and buy wooden toys rather than plastic. Clothes I buy second hand. Also we re-use table decorations etc. This year I plan to cut back and not fall into the trap of being guilted into buying more presents last minute!!!
  • We are trying to buy pre loved toys and clothes. I also wrap everything in brown paper with wooden (reusable) tags. Gifts for local days out or membership to local attractions have been put on the lists.
    To try and cut down on mileage we are trying to coordinate visits to family and friends with others so we can reduce the number of trips. 
    At a local vintage market last year I managed to pick up some lovely pre loved decorations that have loads of life left in them. 
    As much as possible we are sourcing our meat and veg for Christmas from local farmers and eating what is in season. 
    Our Christmas jumpers are all from previous years or preloved. 
  • We are using all old toys to make a number of busy boards for our son. We will also add an old tap, socket with plug, as he loves playing with those. Many of his musical books have come apart so we will add the top cover so he can still use the buttons for sounds. All you need is wood & glue/drill. This will also help declutter and as we are making a few we can change them around each week. You can literally add anything you already have and it will keep little ones entertained for hours! :)

  • We recycle our wrapping paper and we also make sure that we recycle our Christmas cards and our christmas tree.  We also reuse gift bags. 
  • We make personalised gifts from the children, salt dough hand prints or framed pictures. We also buy second hand toys for the children and try and opt for wooden varieties if possible. We don’t buy new decorations each year, we reuse what we’ve got for years on end to stay eco friendly! Love the idea of Whirli too, will definitely be looking into signing up! 
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