'Tis the season to be sustainable
LONG gone are the days when Christmastime was always seen as the season of excess.
Much more commonplace now are thoughtful, non-wasteful gifts, mindful shopping with inventive ways to reduce food waste, and eco-friendly, recyclable decorations and wrapping. The colour of many Christmases nowadays is green, rather than white.
But we’re fully behind the cleaner, greener, alternative ways to celebrate Christmas. If you too are through with the pretentious plastic, the ostentatious over-indulgence and ugly excess, get with us and be inspired to have a conscious Christmas.
Here are just some ways in which we’re switching to a sustainable Christmas.
Let us know if you are having a green Christmas this year, too.
1. Plastic free gift wrap and accessories
Although including shiny, metallic-looking patterns and glittery decorations make wrapping paper and cards feel more festive, having these elements in the designs often mean that they cannot be recycled. It means that more plastic pollution is fed into our waste systems at Christmas more than any other time of the year.
It’s why we are proud that we no longer use plastic lamination, and we minimise any foil to make sure our Christmas gift tags, cards and paper are 100% recyclable.
Check out our giftware range in store today.
2. Don’t forget your reusable bags
Back in July, the law was introduced in Jersey to charge the minimum of 70p for a single-use bag. It is something we have championed and encourage all our Members and customers to reuse their old carrier bags, or invest in a reusable, sustainable bag.
If you do need to buy a single-use plastic bag, 100% of the profits for the sale of the bags go towards funding local community and environmental projects in the Channel Islands through our Coop Community Fund.
So, this Christmas, make sure you remember to bring along your bags when you pick up your Christmas treats and essentials. Or, why not make your own from recycled materials or gift one to a family or friend this Christmas?
3. Be wise with food waste
Wasting food is never a good thing. even more so now than ever before. With our current cost of living and inflation issues, it’s time to be wise when it comes to food waste.
We’ve removed the best before end dates on a range of our own-brand goods to stop good food being thrown away too soon. Our friends at OLIO are also our Christmas stars as they are saviours in helping us to save good food going to waste.
Before you throw that yogurt or leftovers into the bin, why not see if it can have a second chance? It might just be the perfect base for a savoury dip, or create another heart-warming meal?
4. Add local to your ‘Nice list’
We’re proud of our local producers and growers right here in our islands. Nothing beats the taste and quality of goods created locally and what’s more, it gives back to our local economy and businesses too.
Let’s support local and make them the centrepiece of our Christmas celebrations this year. There are a whole host of local producers, suppliers, growers and creators available at your local Coop. Why not try delicious Jersey beef, freshly reared in our lush green fields for your Christmas table? Or, perhaps pick up a local tipple or two of our local brewers, Stinky Bay, or Little Big Brew Co.
It’s time to have ourselves a local and sustainable Christmas this year.
