It's so easy to go and buy new stuff at Christmas. And unfortunately so much of it is covered in glitter and made of plastic - and not only that... so often we just use it for one season and then it goes in the bin.
As we've been learning about the wider subject of living sustainably, one of the most shocking things has been realising how much stuff we use and then discard without thought. Whether that's unused food, packaging... even water. If we can just get a few extra uses out of the things we buy... or just be a little bit more mindful about how we are consuming food and our precious water... then that will go such a long way to making a difference.
With that in mind, we decided to set the staff here a challenge; can you create a Christmas decoration without buying anything new?
We rummaged through cupboards and drawers in the office and in our homes and pulled out all the left over festive bits and bobs that would otherwise have eventually been thrown out. Bits of tinsel, bells, the odd reindeer and lots of festive twine and string. We also did a bit of foraging, inspired by our to make a sustainable Wreath’ video.
Then we gave everyone an hour to get creative.
Of course, a lot of fun was had and there were certainly some 'creative' ideas. But we were in fact impressed with what we achieved.
So did we learn anything from this? We would say most definitely. We were very surprised with a) what we found in our cupboards b) how creative we could actually be.
So, at the end of this season, don’t throw out the random bits of festive cheer. Pop the bits of string, left over wrapping, bells and stars in a bag… and next year get creative! Why not have a go at making your own Christmas cards or, like us, make some decorations or use the bits to decorate a homemade wreath >
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We aren't entirely sure about the Christmas relevance of the Spurs logo. But to be fair, we expect him to stay in the office well past Christmas and thus making excellent use of an old piece of tinsel.
'Elf against Christmas commercialism:'
We had to include our happy balloon too. Made by Chris aged 34
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**All elements of our decorations will be carefully deconstructed and then either composted, re-used or recycled wherever possible. **