At last we hope to be able to spend the Holiday Season with our loved ones, but sadly, much of the associated festive sparkle, ribbon and wrap has traditionally come from less than eco friendly materials.
However, that doesn’t mean the magic of Christmas has to disappear…. Our pupil-led Environment Committee have pulled together some creative and helpful tips on how to make your Christmas as sustainable as possible – and still retain the fun!
- Give experiences, like cinema vouchers
- Buy gifts from ethical brands or charities
- Normalise second-hand gifting! Buy from charity shops, eBay, or give something you don’t need anymore
- Help others less fortunate – give someone a donation to a charity
- Give planet-positive gifts, like seeds or house plants
- Use sustainably sourced or recycled cards (no glitter!) and make your own gift tags from last year’s cards
- Use sustainable materials to wrap gifts (such as reused paper, fabric, ribbons, and paper tape)
- If buying new items, buy long-lasting reusable items made of wood, bamboo, metal, organic cotton etc
- Often the decorations and gifts we treasure most, are those that have been hand crafted, so why not make your own tree ornaments and paperchains
- Avoid single-use plastic and novelty items
We recently held a Sustainable Christmas Jumper initiative to encourage staff and pupils across the School to upcycle their previous festive jumpers or embellish new ones. We had a busy and fun lunchtime a few weeks ago, unleashing our creative juices on old or second hand tops to produce original designs for the occasion. It was wonderful to see some of the pupils wearing their creations this week on Christmas Jumper day!
Below, Year 13 pupils Mia, Sofia and Lily showcase their upcycled outfits, together with Ms. Mynott (Lead Teacher for the Environment at Highgate).
Mia: This is a second hand red jumper, the Christmas tree material is made of off-cuts from my trousers that I decorated
Sofia: Second hand jumper from Oxfam charity shop in Muswell Hill
Lily: second hand from a charity for 50p
