‘Tis the season for sustainability! 3 tips for an eco-friendly holiday season
After two years of the pandemic and tightening travel restrictions, everyone’s itching to get away and enjoy the holidays. Just recalling holiday seasons spent skiing in Japan, shopping in a frenzy at outlets and enjoying snowy white Christmases has us daydreaming!
While travel might not be possible this year (other than the occasional staycation splurge), why not create your own eco-friendly green Christmas?
Here are our 3 top tips for a sustainable Christmas celebration for yourself and your loved ones, to share an extra meaningful holiday season.
Photo from Unsplash
Christmas is one of (if not the) most festive holidays of the year. Beyond holiday dinners and gift-giving, what shapes the Christmas atmosphere is the ornaments. But ornaments tend to go to waste once the festivities are over, further burdening our Earth.
This year, why don’t we start from the beginning to reduce waste and celebrate the festive season while caring for the planet—spend a sustainable Christmas with Pretti5!
Photo by Paige Cody on Unsplash
Tip #1: DIY or reuse holiday decorations
As the magic of the holiday season fades, landfills and garbage collection stations pile up with discarded pine trees and festive decor. The use of real trees and single-use decorations inevitably weighs on the environment.
According to a 2020 study performed by Queen’s University at Kingston in Canada, a 2 to 2.5-meter-tall tree produces approximately 3.5 kilograms of carbon dioxide.
Once in a landfill, however, this footprint rises to 16 kilograms due to the production of methane. In spite of recent governmental recycling programs, recycling stations still struggle to recycle and reuse all the logged trees.
Then, is it more environmentally friendly to use fake trees? In reality, a plastic pine of the same height—considering only the raw materials used—produces 40 kilograms of carbon dioxide.
Photo from In Your Area
Despair not—it’s possible to create a festive atmosphere while being sustainable and eco-friendly!
First, store used ornaments well so they can be reused the next year. Make sure they’re organized and put away properly to preserve them for as long as possible!
For more sustainable and hands-on ornaments, decorate with Pretti5 this year! With a little DIY and Christmas magic, an empty jar of Hydro-Rescue Repairing Night Mask can turn into a uniquely festive holiday season decoration:
Hydro-Rescue Repairing Night Mask (HK$780)
Use an empty jar as your tree base for a uniquely festive decoration at home! Preserved flowers will never die and are easy to clean and care for—preserve beauty and reduce waste to keep the holiday cheer alive.
Photo from Pinterest
Or, hop on the succulent bandwagon for an easy Christmas tree replacement! With a refreshing and irresistibly adorable look, succulents make for the perfect plant to add warmth to your space year-round.
Tip #2: Gathering with friends? Hold a potluck!
The end of the year means meeting with friends and family to spend the holiday season together. Especially with the pandemic, gathering at home is definitely the safer option. Rather than ordering takeout, why not hold a potluck that everyone can take part in?
Have everyone bring a dish to the host’s place for a dinner full of delicious food, love and joy! Bringing and using your own plates and utensils will also mean fewer disposables used, protecting the planet from one-time-use plastic waste.
From krakenimages on Unsplash
Pretti5 Challenge
Try cooking with sustainable ingredients! Go for foods without preservatives: meat, farm produce, seafood, fruit and vegetables are all good options! Other things to avoid include: harmful genetic mutations, chemicals, oxytoxins and hormones, antibiotics and pesticides. These can be harmful to the Earth as well as to the human body when ingested, so avoiding them can help protect humans, animals and the environment.
Photo by seniatram1 on Pixabay
Tip #3: It’s a wrap on wrapping paper!
Since the pandemic started, we’ve been creating a lot more waste: if each person uses two masks a day, that rounds to 730 masks per person every year! Luckily, we don’t have to compromise our health for the health of the planet. We can tackle the issue from a different angle, to reduce the burden on the environment.
Exchanging presents is a joyful Christmas tradition that represents care and goodwill. However, extravagant wrapping paper is ephemeral and waste-producing.
Instead, consider using old newspaper or magazine pages to preserve the surprise while showing goodwill towards the environment.
Photo from Upcyclist
Other than packaging, we can make this holiday season a sustainable one starting with the presents we gift. Make your thoughtfully selected present especially meaningful by choosing something that is all about giving the world a little extra love!
Pretti5’s cruelty-free, vegan skincare is the ideal choice for a Christmas gift—we particularly recommend our reusable, skin-loving line of products!
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
Since our conception, Pretti5 has always valued sustainability and ways of living sustainably without compromising quality. All our products are clean and vegan, using no animal products.
We manufacture sensitive skin-safe products and make them safe for use without animal testing or harmful chemicals, meaning you can use Pretti5, 100% worry-free.
Additionally, all our product packaging is designed and built via a strict process of selection and curation to ensure every fold and flap does its part for the environment. All our plastic bottles and cardboard boxes are made in Japan and recyclable everywhere, meaning it’s always safe and eco-friendly.
Pretti5 Christmas Skincare Sets: This holiday season, give the gift of sustainability
The season of giving and gratitude is here! As you dance the holiday season away, it’s important to take care of sensitive skin during spells of cold, dry weather. Give the ideal gift to your friends and family with Pretti5’s Christmas skincare sets.
Infused with Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) for the most effective and natural skincare protection, Pretti5’s all-natural, vegan and sensitive skin-safe formulas help keep your skin hydrated and moisturized.
This year, Pretti5 presents 5 curated Christmas combo gift sets, with a seasonal 20% discount to help you pick the best gifts for yourself and your loved ones.
No. 1: The Pretti5 Full Set
Originally HK$3,140 → HK$2,512
No. 2: Snow Mushroom Medley
Originally HK$7,767→ HK$1,414
No. 3: Winter Wonderland Nourishing Combo
Originally HK$1,660 → HK$1,328
No. 4: Miracle Skin Set
Originally HK$1,960 → HK$1,568
No. 5: Overnight Hydration Brigade
Originally HK$1,440 → HK$1,152
For a sustainable alternative to cotton pads, try our Peas in a Pod Reusable Bamboo Cotton Pads! Made from natural bamboo fiber, these super-soft cotton pads exfoliate for a more effective cleanse that’s also zero-waste.
The set comes with six reusable bamboo cotton puffs, along with a perfectly sized mesh bag for more convenient machine-washing.
These bamboo cotton pads are suitable for all skin types, including dry, oily and sensitive skin—even babies can use them safely! Gentle and effective, they help to remove makeup and cleanse skin after a long day for a soft, refreshed and glowing skin.
Peas in a Pod Reusable Bamboo Cotton Pads (HK$118)
Since we’re on the topic: as a local cruelty-free skincare brand, we hope to not only produce high-quality, sensitive skin-safe skincare, but also raise what awareness we can about protecting the environment and the animals who call nature home.
Photo by Matthew Smith on Unsplash
Christmas Special: Give Our Furry Friends a Hug!
It’s Pretti5’s Week of Giving! From today until the 14th, 5% of all purchases on the Pretti5 website will be donated to the House of Joy & Mercy, to bring seasonal love, joy and cheer to dogs seeking fur-ever homes. Let’s give together to make this Christmas extra meaningful!
Photo by Camilo Fierro on Unsplash
Pretti5 will continue to uphold our values of caring for the environment, by advocating for animals and the protection of their homes. We’ve got more news coming on that front in 2022—in the meantime, please continue to pay attention to animal rights and environmental preservation, to take care of animals and the planet we all call home.
This Christmas, let’s spread joy sustainably!
Written by Fion Tse
