Sustainable Christmas guide - energy saving tips and eco-friendly gifts and decoration ideas

Energy use at Christmas: how much we spend in the UK

Did you know, Gov.UK show that in December 2024, UK energy sales were 4% higher than those in November? And according to the National Grid: 

• We use over 63 GWh of energy to cook all our turkey's - which is apparently the equivalent of powering 23,500 homes annually!
• If every UK household celebrating Christmas (approximately 25 million  homes) strung a single chain of Christmas lights all in a row, we would have approximately 150,000 miles of lights, enough to illuminate the British coastline twenty times over!

Top takeaway tips: how to have an eco-friendly Christmas

As we launch ourselves into the annual fun of decorating our homes, sending cards, thinking of gifts our friends and family will love to receive, it's also a great time to look at our usual traditions with more of an environmental angle - and it doesn't have to be tricky or expensive! Read our: 

• Top five eco Christmas tips
• Energy saving tips for a sustainable Christmas
• Eco-friendly Christmas gifts and stocking filler ideas
• Considerations on all the extra trimmings, including wrapping paper, baubles, Christmas cards, crackers, trees and more!
• Thoughts on why choosing eco sustainable Christmas options matter

Easy-to-do, top five eco-Christmas tips include:

1. Shop local - why drive miles to shop, when you can save on time, carbon emissions and support your local stores all at the same time?!
2. Illuminate your home with LEDs - LED stringed lights help cut down on your Christmas energy usage as they're designed to be more efficient than traditional incandescent fairy lights.
3. Recyclable Christmas wrapping paper - so many shops now stock really pretty recyclable paper, it'd be a shame not to wrap your presents in it! You can also buy Christmas ink or paint stamps and brown paper to create your own traditional-looking wrapping paper - a great activity on a dismal rainy December weekend with the kids!
4. Looking to reduce plastic waste? Why not gift an experience or voucher?
5. Shop pre-loved - whether it's your local vintage clothing shop or an online store - there are so many second-hand gifts needing good homes - many items still have their tags on too!

Reducing waste and carbon footprint at Christmas 

But, it's not just energy in the UK that we consume more of during the Christmas period: 

• It's estimated 4.5 million Christmas dinners are wasted annually in the UK
• Each family wastes an average of £60 worth of food over the Christmas period
• Over 3 million tonnes of waste are generated during the festive season
• Over 114,000 tonnes of plastic packaging are discarded during Christmas in the UK
• Around 108 million rolls of wrapping paper are annually thrown away

Don’t panic - we’re not saying you need to turn off the oven, dismantle the tree and sit in the dark to have an eco-friendly Christmas. There are plenty of things you can do, big and small, to save on your bills and have a more sustainable Christmas. We’ve pulled together some Christmas energy-saving tips, as well as some ideas for eco-friendly Christmas gifts, decorations, trees and more.

Energy saving tips for a sustainable Christmas

• Farewell fairy, hello LED. Research shows incandescent fairy light bulbs can cost up to 83% more than LEDs; find out more about Christmas lights energy cost!
• Only use your twinkling fairy lights in the room - if it's light enough, save money by not using the main room lights as well
   
• Turn your thermostat down by 1°C. The ideal temperature is somewhere between 18°C and 21°C; turn the thermostat from 22°C to 21°C, and you could save £90 in GB and £80 in NI
   
• Make sure you don’t open the oven door too much; each time you do the oven has to work harder to maintain the temperature needed for the perfect roast potato
   
• Turn things off at the plug - you could save £45 a year just by turning things off at the wall
   
• Choose energy-efficient appliances - aim for an A+++ rating to help make your home more energy efficient 

Eco-friendly Christmas gifts and stocking filler ideas

Gifts, cards, wrapping paper, crackers, decorations… it all adds up! But there are sustainable options, and you can find stocking fillers and festive favourites that don’t cost the Earth.

Quality, not quantity

A good start when it comes to sustainable gifting is to think of quality, not quantity. An estimated three in five Brits received an unwanted Christmas gift in 2024, equating to around 31 million adults, with total spend on unwanted gifts estimated to be £1.27 billion.

Of all purchases made over the Christmas period in the UK, only 1% will still be in use six months after the big day. So this year, don't think "bigger is better", or "that'll do" - think about trying to find, or make, a gift that means something personal.

Rather than buying Christmas cards, may be make your own this year, and to make gift tags for next year (or this year, if you run out!) cut out shapes from this year's Christmas cards, such as a star or tree, and save them for wrapping gifts next Christmas!

Shop Local

We all love shopping online and receiving deliveries, but research shows a spike in the real-world use of light commercial vehicles (LCVs) during the Black Friday to Boxing day sales peak, with a vehicle making, on average, 11% more trips during Black Friday week and 9% more during Christmas. 

Give the gift of a good time

A survey showed that 3 in 5 UK adults (58%), approximately 31 million people, have been given at least one Christmas gift they don’t like. The total estimated spend on these unwanted gifts works out at £1.27 billion. As of 2024, the average value of unwanted gifts received per person is £41.

So why not skip the shops altogether? Some people are really tricky to buy a gift for, so why not give an experience? May a day out somewhere? A ticket to a show? Classes and workshops are a great alternative to giving a ‘thing’. 

Go homemade

Why not do it yourself this Christmas? Homemade gifts are meaningful and a great way to avoid single-use plastics and emissions from manufacturing and shipping. And if making things isn't your thing - there's plenty of home-made gifts already made ready for you to buy! In fact, 80% of people in a survey said they bought a handmade gift because it’s unique!

Shop pre-loved

It was estimated last year that second-hand gift giving will account for over 10% of all gift spending. The rise of the circular economy means more and more quality items are finding themselves in shops like Oxfam, Shelter and Preloved. Clothes, books, furniture and games can all be found for a fraction of the price and the carbon.

Don’t forget the trimmings… wrapping paper, baubles, cards, crackers, trees and more!

Gift wrapping

All this gift-giving means we’ll throw away up to 108 million rolls of wrapping paper! This year try making your own from parcel paper and cute Christmas ink stamps to decorate it, or use cloth and ribbon instead.

If you need wrapping paper, look out for recycled or FSC-certified paper - try to steer clear of foil-backed, glittery or glossy paper, as these can’t be recycled. 

Wreaths

Got some old baubles you don't fancy on the tree this year? Why not use them to make a wreath for your door?

Christmas cards

Did you know that when you take into account the manufacturing process, printing, postage, and decomposition, sending just one Christmas card is the equivalent of releasing 140g of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere? As an alternative this year you could:

• Donate the money you’d usually spend on cards to a charity
• Buy seed cards which are made from post-consumer paper waste and 100% biodegradable seed-embedded cards printed with vegan-friendly inks.

Sustainable crackers

It’s estimated that over 40 million Christmas crackers are binned on the 25th of December. Consider getting sustainable, recyclable crackers without toys (you’ll still get a hat and a terrible joke, don’t worry), or get a DIY cracker kit and put your own gift inside!

Christmas trees

Real or fake - there are strong supporting arguments either side. If you want a truly sustainable tree this year, make sure you chop locally (get it?!) and consider a potted tree that you can reuse year after year. Alternatively, if you've got a large favourite house plant - decorate that this year! Who says it has to be a traditional pine or spruce you use?!

Hopefully, we've given you some festive food for thought about how to have a more sustainable Christmas this year. 

Get tips on everything from lowering your heating bills to solar panels and electric heating, to help your home become more energy efficient. After all, energy efficiency is for life, not just for Christmas.

Decorations

Out of all the seasons, Christmas is the one that lends itself most to creating sustainable decorations! This year why not ditch the tinsel and make dried orange slices garlands - they look and smell amazing!

Or, grab a star-cutter and make salt-dough Christmas star ornaments for the tree?

Good at crochet? Now's your time to shine with crocheted trees, stars, angels - in fact anything Christmasy - and use them to decorate the tree or make garlands with!

For those with a penchant for origami find an online origami star tutorial to make a stunning display.

Looking for a centre piece for the dinner table? Get your secateurs and go for a walking, snipping at pieces of ivy, holy and available foliage to make a naturally beautiful festive display.

Why choosing eco sustainable Christmas options matter

Each time we choose to reduce waste we're helping protect the environment while conserving the Earth's resources for future generations. Opting to gift sustainable Christmas presents, decorations, and food can make a difference in helping lower the carbon footprint we all drive up during this period. If we can try to support sustainable lifestyle choices and make them part of our everyday mindsets, we can actively encourage a more mindful approach to consumption.

Looking ahead

We want energy to work for you – for the long-term. We’re giving away free electricity our customers can use every Sunday with our Sunday Saver challenges, making energy easier to understand, offering energy tariffs that use electricity when its cheapest, installing smart meters so customers can get our cheapest deals and best offers, and using Which? trusted installers for our low-carbon products. And with our ongoing improvements in customer service and commitment to helping build Britain’s zero-carbon future, we’re here to support you—not just today, but for years to come.