‘We turn our bookcase into a tree’: the sustainable Christmas hacks you swear by

Not to sound too Scrooge-ish, but it can sometimes feel like Christmas is the season of overconsumption and overindulgence. Whether it’s wasted food, unwanted presents or single-use crackers, trees and wrapping paper – once we’ve finished decking the halls, a lot of it ends up decking landfill.

Our handy guide to cutting Christmas waste has lots of useful ideas, but we also asked you for your tips and tricks. From alternative trees to an ingenious way to use up leftovers, here are your top hacks for a more sustainable festive season.

Alternative trees

Yule love this plot twist. Photograph: Rebecca Agar/The Guardian

Many of you showed creativity with some original Christmas tree alternatives. Rebecca Agar told us: “We have floor-to-ceiling bookcases and some years we turn some books around so the spines are inwards in a Christmas tree shape, then we decorate it with tinsel and lights.”

Seeing the wood for the tree. Photograph: Carol and Oli Griffiths/The Guardian

Carol and Oli Griffiths gave new life to wooden pallets destined for landfill, turning them into a tree. “We’ve decorated it with baubles we’ve had for many years, with bits of greenery we scavenged from a car park where a Christmas tree stall had closed for the night,” they said. “We’re going to store it in our cellar and re-use it next year.”

Twig-ling all the way. Photograph: Poppy/The Guardian

Poppy’s yearly sustainable tree is “a fallen branch or prunings from the garden, decorated with trinkets collected over the years”.

Inventive gift wrap

Whether it’s 100% recyclable or not, buying single-use wrapping paper feels wasteful. Catherine Aubert suggests using paper materials you already have. “In this day and age of GPS, I use my old paper maps to wrap presents, or newspapers and pages from magazines,” she says.

In a similar vein, Rebecca Agar collects paper from deliveries and other gifts. “Then I spend on beautiful cloth ribbons that I buy by the reel. These dress up the sad paper beautifully and can be reused, even ironed if necessary. Sometimes I decorate the paper using paints, stickers or marker pens.”

The bags of joy ‘come out every Christmas’. Photograph: Hannah/The Guardian

Reader Hannah says her homemade fabric gift bags are not only eco-friendly, but also “the fastest way to wrap anything – pop the gift in the bag, pull the ribbon and job done!” She made them more than 10 years ago, and “they come out every Christmas”.

And Sue Sunderland has a handy tip for making gift tags. “I take crimping shears and cut out portions of cards from previous years. It may be a donkey, a robin, a Christmas tree, whatever, and then I use a punch to make a hole and thread through some ribbons,” she said.

Reducing waste

You’d be crackers not to try napkin crackers. Photograph: Tamsin Lewis/The Guardian

“I made Christmas cracker napkins to avoid single-use crackers or napkins,” Tamsin Lewis told us. Meanwhile, Pauline has a delicious and savvy way to reduce food waste: “I put all the leftovers from the Christmas dinner (including sprouts, stuffing, cranberry sauce and lots of gravy) in a large pie dish. When it’s cool I cover it and put it in the freezer. Sometime in February or March I defrost it and cover with a pastry top. It’s absolutely delicious.”

To reduce the impact of gift-buying, Maxine says, “All children get book tokens for £12, and I haunt charity shops during the year.” Another reader said they make everyone in their family a box of treats they know they like. “Not a pre-designed hamper – containing things they might not like, and usually in a basket that will not get used – but a collection of what we’re sure will not be wasted.”

And finally, Sue Collins says to reduce waste at Christmas: “It’s simple. Don’t spend at all.” Her friends and relations have decided to ditch the “senseless gift-giving ideology … without the shopping for presents burden, I look forward to celebrating simple get-togethers with my friends. I volunteer for our local community kitchen and the Christmas lunch is always such fun and very special,” she says.

This week’s picks

• The best women’s pyjamas: 24 favourites for cosy nights and lazy mornings

• The best men’s pyjamas for sleeping, lounging and all-day comfort

• The best experience gifts for Christmas, tried and tested, from life-drawing to wizard tea

• The best alcohol to gift this Christmas: 10 tried-and-tested wines, spirits and fizz for every budget

• ‘Tastes like scented candle’: the best (and worst) supermarket chocolate truffles, tasted and rated

• ‘I’ve used it every day for 48 years’: 42 forever gifts that last – and won’t end up in landfill

• The best whisky to savour this Christmas: 14 tried-and-tested tipples, from scotch and single malt to blended and bourbon

• The best gins for G&Ts, martinis and negronis, from our taste test of 65

• The best scented candles: 17 affordable, genuinely great-smelling candles – tested

• Asymmetric hemlines, applique and lace: the 30 best party dresses for Christmas and beyond

Editor’s pick

Plate expectations: want expert tips on hosting the perfect Christmas dinner? We’ve got plenty to sprout about. Photograph: GMVozd/Getty Images

Hosting Christmas this year? We’ve created the ultimate guide to the main event, speaking to experts on every detail: from Poppy O’Toole on potatoes to Olly Smith on his favourite wine glasses to Anna Jones on vegetarian centrepieces. Most importantly, we share tips to help you save time, money and waste, whether it’s foraging for table decorations or pre-batching margaritas. Merry Christmas!

Monica Horridge
Deputy editor, the Filter

In case you missed it …

Jane Hoskyn with her temporary festive forest. Photograph: Jane Hoskyn/The Guardian

According to the Carbon Trust, using a fake tree over seven to 20 years (depending on its weight and materials) can create fewer emissions than buying a new, commercially grown tree every year. So the best approach is to buy one that will stay the distance, and that you’ll love enough to use again and again. Jane Hoskyn turned her living room into a mini-forest to test out the best artificial Christmas trees (and while her favourite is now very low stock in the 6ft size she tested, the 7ft and 5ft versions are still available for half price).

Get involved

Practice makes perfect: let us know the products and routines that have helped you turn resolution into reality. Photograph: oatawa/Getty Images

What thing has helped you maintain good habits? Whether it’s the water bottle that helps you hydrate, the alarm clock that finally gets you out of bed or the shoes so comfy you’ve been walking more, we want to hear from you. Let us know by replying to this newsletter or emailing us at [email protected].