News on Surrey's Greener Future

We’re a group of volunteers in Surrey who are passionate about the environment and want to make a difference.

Christmas can be a stressful time with pressure to have the ‘perfect’ Christmas and spend money we might not have on gifts, food, decorations, events, and travel. Now more than ever with the cost-of-living crisis more and more of us are feeling the pinch.

7 in 10 people in the UK readily admit to buying far more food than they need, meaning that UK residents will waste 54 million platefuls of food during December.

One report states that 81 million unwanted presents are received each year, which is an average of 3 per UK household.

This year more than ever we’re also thinking about how we can make some changes. Here’s some of our tips for a greener, cheaper and more sustainable Christmas. Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repurpose, Recycle – Do you need it? Can you do with less? Can you get it second-hand? Can you repurpose or upcycle? What happens to it after Christmas?

Use a present to wrap a present! Wrap presents in a nice scarf sourced from your local charity shop.

Look out for recyclable cards & wrapping paper. Glitter is not recyclable so be careful to choose cards and wrapping paper without glitter (although you might find some with bio-degradable glitter).

Use fully recyclable brown paper (super cheap from pound shops or equivalent) to wrap presents. You can go minimalist chic and just keep the paper plain and maybe add some parcel string, or you can get a bit creative! You can make your own vegetable stamps and stamp the paper using some basic poster paint (before wrapping the present).

Try to buy pre-loved items (check your local charity shops, eBay, Vinted etc).

Shop local. The Surrey Hills AONB has a directory of fantastic local businesses in Surrey. You can also filter many websites such as Etsy and Not on the High Street by ‘United Kingdom’ to keep travel emissions down.

Get creative with homemade gifts such as knitting a scarf, a plant you’ve propagated or grown, baking mince pies or photos of you with loved ones.

Give experiences rather than ‘things’. Giving experiences is a lovely alternative and it can be meaningful to carve out time to spend with people and give you something to look forward to post Christmas too. Ideas could be an event ticket, a cooking class, or a meal out.

Give the gift of your time – babysitting, gardening, cooking, IT skills.

Give edible gifts that you know will get consumed!

Jazzing up your home needn’t be expensive. You can make your own decorations, virtually for free, by using natural materials. A simple glass jar filled with branches and berries is both elegant and festive.

Check out your local charity shops or Facebook marketplace for second-hand decorations.

If you have a real Christmas tree make sure that you recycle it after the holidays, curb side collection dates will be available from your district or borough council.

Plan carefully how much food you need to avoid waste and make plans ahead of time for leftovers such as turkey sandwiches, or bubble and squeak. If you need inspiration of ways to reduce waste you could check out l ow-waste chef Max La Manna who shares innovative ways of reducing of waste in the kitchen!

Have you considered cooking a different meat or plant-based main? Gocompare.com Energy conducted research showing that cooking a turkey (taking approximately five hours) costs 1.5 times as much as a typical family’s electricity bill for a whole day.

Another great source of tips and information is the Surrey Environment Partnership. Their website is full of information on reducing food waste and how to dispose of different kinds of waste in your area.