A Merry Sustainable Christmas

Guest Blog from Josh Hill

Josh Hill is a zero-waste products business owner with Soseas and a COVID scientist with a passion for the outdoors and nature.

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Christmas is notoriously a time of year linked with over consumption and waste which becomes even more apparent when you look at some of the stats:

  • 114,000 tonnes of plastic packaging will be thrown away and not recycled this Christmas
  • Over 4 million Christmas dinners are binned every year
  • Enough wrapping paper is used to stretch to the moon (most of which is unrecyclable)

Looking at these points above, it’s clear waste is generated from all aspects of Christmas, from decorations and food to gifts and packaging. So to achieve a more sustainable Christmas needs efforts to be made all round, but don’t worry we’ve got suggestions of how to reduce your waste in all these areas.

Sustainable wrapping

Most wrapping paper is single-use and often unrecyclable due to the mix of materials used in its construction, the result is a bunch of wrapping with a fleeting lifespan that’s destined for landfill. But, there are better alternatives out there. Let’s take a look at a few.

Reusing waste paper

Reusing waste paper might not be the prettiest but it’s for sure one of the lowest waste options. Giving material added lifespan that may otherwise be destined for landfill is a great way to reduce waste.

Many papers are suitable but some common options include:

  • Newspaper
  • Previously used wrapping paper
  • Magazines

Furoshiki

Furoshiki is a traditional Japanese wrapping cloth that’s used to wrap clothes, gifts and more. It’s great as it makes use of material you may already have on hand and has the added benefit of looking pretty special too! It does take a bit of practice but there’s plenty of handy tutorials out there,

Recyclable paper

If you have nothing suitable to hand to wrap presents with, consider buying materials with lower impact; reusable cloth options are great but not always easy to source.

Another good alternative comes in the form of recyclable paper (like brown packing paper), at least that way you can put the waste material to use.

Note: When it comes to wrapping any of the above options can be reused if you tie the gift together with a piece of string in place of difficult to remove sticky tape.

Decorations

Christmas decorations are certainly another huge source of waste with tonnes of decorations being discarded annually. Instead opt for using what you have or some of these great DIYs that are worth trying at home.

Dried oranges

Nothing says Christmas more than some festive slices of dried orange dangled around the tree and fireplace.

They’re also super easy to make:

  • Cut oranges into 2-3cm slices
  • Dry the oranges by placing them in the oven on low
  • Turn the oranges every hour until they’re thoroughly dehydrated

Simply pinecone decoration

Christmas DIY decorations don’t get any easier than this foraged pinecone decoration:

  • Dot the top of the pinecone with a small amount of hotglue
  • Add a loop of twine to the top

Cranberry garland

Cranberry garlands are a great way to add a bit of colour to your tree without using plastic tinsel, they’re also pretty easy to make:

  • Thread your needle and pull through so that each end of the string meet (this helps to keep your garland together)
  • Make sure you knot the end (a few times) so no cranberries fall off
  • Poke through each of your cranberries with the needle until you have made the garland your desired length.

Gifting

We’ve all received those awkward unwanted gifts on Christmas and while we can’t stop your aunty from buying you those ugly socks we have got some suggestions for more sustainable gifting alternatives this season!

Experiences

Gifting experiences is a great way to provide someone with a thoughtful gift without buying more stuff, some great options include:

  • A trip away
  • A voucher for their favourite restaurant
  • Tickets to a gig, the theatre or an event

Pre-loved

Shopping for pre-loved items doesn’t have to be a cop out, many places even sell unwanted new items that are worth saving from landfill. If you’ve got your eye on something for a gift this Christmas it’s worth having a look on websites like depop and eBay to see if a decent second hand option isn’t available first!

Independent and sustainable

Some businesses are more deserving of your custom than others this Christmas, so before you go and buy all your gifts on Amazon consider giving makers, sustainable and local businesses your custom first.

Here are a few great options:

Food

Before you accuse me of a scrooge for asking you to abstain from scoffing your faces all Christmas hear me out!

An eyewatering 2 million turkeys, 5 million Christmas puddings, and 74 million mince pies get binned while still edible, causing almost 270,000 tons of food waste in total during this festive season. Here’s a few tips for reducing your food waste this festive season.

Plan

Planning is one of the keys to keeping your foodwaste under control this christmas, so before you head out and do your big Christmas shop, keep the following in mind:

  • Plan your meals around the festive day including portion sizes so you don’t buy too much
  • Head to the shop with a list so you don’t deviate from what you need
  • Prioritise items with a long shelf life and items that can be frozen

Get creative with leftovers

Don’t let your uneaten food be destined for the bin, get creative with left overs and freeze what you don’t use to extend its shelf life. There are loads of great recipes for leftovers out there, check out some top ones here.

Eat less meat

It’s been widely reported that eating less meat is one of the best ways to reduce your carbon footprint and there’s never been a better time to try some creative veggie recipes out and maybe avoid a few of those extra Christmas pounds.

There we have it, our full guide to having a more sustainable Christmas. Hopefully some of these ideas are useful and have given you some inspiration to bring out your green side this festive season. If you’ve enjoyed this post share it with friends or family that could do with a bit of eco inspiration this Christmas.

A guide to student-friendly toiletries plastic reduction: blog series

A guide to student-friendly toiletries plastic reduction: blog series by SDG Ambassador Julia

It’s #plasticfreeJuly! There are so many reasons to start reducing your plastic consumption and join the plastic-free hype! Reducing your carbon footprint or plastic consumption may not be the first thing on your mind right now with a global pandemic afoot, but if this something you’d like to try out, this series might be of interest!

Having said that, there are many perks to going plastic free specifically with your toiletries at this particular time. I don’t know about you, but I am still finding that the regular pharmacies or drug stores still don’t stock my go-to products. Why not try something new in a time when we are literally washing our hands to save lives.

For the first blog in this series I’d like to introduce Ethique. I tried Ethique mostly because I had been following them on Instagram for a while and was super intrigued by their products (top tip: how do you find ethical/plastic free brands? Instagram). Their tag line is #giveupthebottle and according to their website, claim to be plastic free, cruelty free, palm oil free and vegan which checked all the boxes for my personal preferences. They are also more accessible as they are sold online at Holland & Barrett, both in store and online and are also now sold by Boots online.

My initial thought was that the pricing was way over what I would usually budget for these kinds of products, but I am willing to invest in a product if it lasts longer than something that I paid less for. I tried a bunch of products, purchased their trial pack for oily skin, a moisturiser and a soap container. I also tried to buy most products when they were on sale.

From personal use, I have two stand-products that I can confidently say they worked well for my skin type. This review is based on my personal experience with the products so I can’t speak for all skin or hair types! For reference, my skin and hair are both oily.

Stand-out product 1 – Star of the show

Ethique Gingersnap Face Scrub. Price: £12.99

I purchased the multipack of Gingersnap Face Scrub without realising it was already included in the trial pack that I had also purchased. I was annoyed at this until I tried one and instead, I was delighted. This scrub is very, very good. I used it once a day, in the shower as a precursor to the facewash and have continued to enjoy the multipack after the trial one was used up. It lasts a while as long as you don’t get it too wet in the shower and is very easy to use. I’d say each bar probably lasted about a month making the 4 pack last about 4 months but may not be as cheap. I have tried many an exfoliation product and this has to be one of the best ones. Considering you average about £3.25 for each individual bar in the pack, I’d say this is around the same price as decent scrub you’d get at Boots or Superdrug.

Stand-out product 2 – Honourable mention

Ethique Sweet Orange and Vanilla Butter Block. Price: £11.99

The butter block was the most luxurious product out of all the products. The scent is quite strong but not overpowering but is sweet smelling – definitely a win if you are a fan of sweet and fruity scents. The instructions say to use it right after showering but I found it would kind of slide off my skin a bit too much. If used on dry skin though, it worked much better. Storage-wise it is a bit tricky. Warm surroundings will cause the oils to seep into whatever container you keep it in so be sure to keep it in something substantial. It is very moisturising and I used it every other day or every two days on my arms and legs. I think for the price it is impractical to purchase this on the regular, but as a gift for a friend or if you find it on sale, a gift for yourself.

Overall, I enjoyed the products that I purchased from Ethique but found that some either didn’t work as well as other products I have used or I found them expensive for what they were and therefore haven’t included them in this budget conscious review. Thank you so much for reading this far and I hope you enjoyed the first post of this blog series. I hope to do a couple more brand reviews as part of this series so watch this space!

Disclaimer: All opinions are my own. I purchased these items with my own money, they are not a gift nor is this post sponsored.

Ethique’s website: https://ethique.co.uk/

Ethique at Boots: https://www.boots.com/sitesearch?searchTerm=Ethique

Ethique at Holland & Barrett: https://www.hollandandbarrett.com/info/ethique/

How to be More Eco Friendly In your Everyday Life!

This is the first blog post from one of the University’s new Sustainable Development Goals Ambassadors. The SDGs Ambassadors are students that are helping to spread the word about the SDGs to their peers and demonstrate how we can all be a part of this extraordinary movement to solve some of the world’s biggest challenges.

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Hi! 

My name is Tinu and I became a University of Kent, Sustainable Development Goals Ambassador because, from childhood, I have been passionate about human and environmental rights issues and these passions have played out in every choice I have made. In Elementary school, I started an Environmental club and worked with Greenpeace Canada to enforce proper recycling of products. Since 2016 I have been a graphic designer for the Hope for Us Charity whose goal is to improve the H.E.S.I of African countries. H.E.S.I. which stands for Healthcare, Education, Sustainability and Advocacy against Social Injustices. My interests in these topics are even reflected in my previous educational studies, where I studied: International Business, World Issues and Environment with Resource Management. In my World Issues course, we dedicated part of the semester to focus on the United Nations SDG goals, allowing me to be quite familiar with the different goals. As well as in my Environment and Resource Management course, where we studied sustainable living. I am a strong believer that it is our responsibility as humans to take care of the planet and everything on it ☺

How to be More Eco Friendly In your Everyday Life!

Start Timing Your Showers

We all love to spend time in the shower as they can be relaxing and a great place to practice our vocal lessons. However extended showers can use up to 17.2 gallons of water! Make an effort to reduce your shower time by setting goals and timing yourself!

 Buy Products with less packaging and try to not buy things that come in Styrofoam or Plastic 

When you go the store try to see how many items you can buy that are package less or don’t use as much plastic! Try shopping at bulk stores. 

Pro tip: The healthier the food the less packaging it usually has. 

Environmentally Friendly Toothbrushes

What’s something we do every day? (at least I hope so) Brush your teeth! Toothbrushes are something that we all use however they are plastic 🙁 which ends up in our landfills. Invest in an electrical toothbrush or Bamboo. 

Metal and Paper Straws 

I’m sure you have heard “save the turtles” multiple times this year and that is because its true! Straws take 200 years to decompose and, in most places, cannot be recycled. Straws are also the 11th most found item in the ocean! (Ocean Conservancy 2018)

So, what to do? Use a metal Straw which you can get for cheap online in packs! or ask for paper straws when you order beverages. 

Reusable Water Bottles 

Instead of using plastic cups and water bottles keep a good quality BPA free water bottle with you! Quit buying bottled water. Instead, get a water bottle that you can refill.

 Pro Tip: Most restaurants and boutique drink shops will give you money off your drink if you bring your own cup 

Going Shopping? 

Say no thanks, to the cheap plastic bags they give you and bring your own bags or keep items in your cart without bagging them and put them directly into your car 

 Use E-tickets for movies, flights and other events instead of printing! 

Tip: Apple phones have an app called Wallet where you can store e- tickets and cards 

Wash your clothes in cold water

Cold water uses less energy, which saves the planet and your water bill!