Originally Featured on Reve En Vert
1) A tree is for life, not just for Christmas…
Head to your local Christmas Forest and find a tree that keeps on giving after the festive season. Reve En Vert recommends opting for a pot grown Christmas tree that you can replant in your garden after the festivities, this way you can use the tree year after year and save more trees from facing the chop! Or better still, if your house is already overflowing with greenery, give your palms and cacti a Christmas twist with handmade decorations and twinkling lights and donate the money to help conserve the world’s forests. Check out the woodland trust for more details!
For more information on Woodland Trust click HERE
2) Meander around your local Farmers market
Support local farmers and fuel your Christmas feast with organic, locally grown produce. Head down to your local Farmers market the weekend before Christmas and stock up on all your favorite indulgences. Farmers markets are a haven for your tastebuds with row upon row of fresh produce that are free from any nasties…You can even sip on mulled wine while you explore! Shopping local and buying seasonal produce helps support local businesses and cuts down on unnecessary travel miles.
Find your local food emporium HERE
3) Wrap wisely
Wrap wisely and avoid the mountains of discarded paper that emerges by the end of Christmas day. On average it takes 6 mature trees to make a ton of paper, this means approximately 50,000 trees are used to make the 8,250 tons consumed at Christmas. This year, try using 100% recyclable paper as a chic environmentally friendly alternative. Wrappily is unlike conventional gift wrap, their paper is 100% recyclable, compostable and printed with soy-based inks. The patterns are also made with love, created by independent designers! As for ribbons, find any material garments that lay unused at the back of your wardrobe and cut them into long pieces of ribbons, tie them around the present skilfully to avoid using any sticky tape!
For more information on Wrappily click HERE
4) Presence not presents
Give the gift of presence this year by spending time with the people you love most, giving them thoughtful gifts and showing them how much you care. Although this may sound cliché, Christmas spirit seems to have morphed into a relentless buying spree, 2016 is the year for giving more than material. Reve En Vert works closely with local, independent designers to offer customers a selection of gifts that are more than just material items. Reve En Vert designers consciously create with the environment in mind, meaning customers can buy gifts that have a story and most importantly, don’t cost the earth.
5) The gift that keeps on giving
Give an ethical gift that can throw a financial lifeline to people in less economically developed countries. Lend With Care gift vouchers allow people to lend small amounts of money to people in the occupied Palestinian territories to kick-start their own small business, helping them to feed their families and send their children to school. The money is a loan that will be ‘recycled’ by the recipient, by lending it to another entrepreneur. Examples include farmers who seek loans to buy seeds and fertilizers.
For more information on Lend With Care click HERE
Words by Darcie Imbert for Reve En Vert // Shared with permission
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