4 Mins Read
Have you been doing the same activities year in year out, every festive season? Maybe it is time to try some of these not-so-typical alternative activities that are eco-friendly, fun and positive. Here are 9 ideas to get you, your family and friends started this (green) Christmas!
1. Volunteer
Christmas is meant to be a time for giving, yet many of us have strayed away from the season’s meaning thanks to our mainstream consumer culture. Instead of buying more things that most of us don’t need, gift someone your time and energy this year. Take a day out to volunteer at a local shelter or food bank with your family and friends, it’ll be a heartwarming and rewarding experience, guaranteed.
2. Create Some D-I-Y Eco Ornaments
Put your creative hats on and get crafty! Sit around a table and make some eco-friendly ornaments with recycled and upcycled materials lying at home. You could make a wreath out of old buttons, for instance. Need more ideas? We have a whole list of D-I-Y decorations to keep yourself and your kids busy this season.
3. Go Ice-Skating
This is kind of basic, but when was the last time you gathered a group together for some ice-skating fun? Even if you can hardly balance on those scary skates, this activity all but guarantees loads of laughs and lasting memories.
4. Host A Christmas Bake-Off Party
There’s hardly anything that smells better than freshly baked cookies and cake on a cold wintery day. Gather your friends and relatives together for a vegan cookie party and get baking! From gingerbread biscuits to panettone, there are loads of plant-based recipes online. Take a look at some of the Christmas recipes we’ve curated for inspiration, and make sure to check out our ultimate guide on how to be an eco holiday party host.
5. Video Chat Or Call Your Friends & Family Abroad
If you have family or friends that live abroad, the winter holidays is the perfect season to video chat or call in just to catch up. Ask about how they’ve been, what they have been up to and make plans to meet up in person soon (IRL for those of you who can’t take their eyes off your screen). And btw you screenistas out there, perhaps you want to consider breaking up with your phone? Or going on a break at least..!
6. Make Some Homemade Vegan S’Mores
Who doesn’t love s’mores? There’s no need to limit the fun to a campfire, you can make this in the comfort of your own home. All you need are some vegan digestive biscuits, gelatin-free marshmallows and dark chocolate slabs – all of which are now commonly stocked in supermarkets and specialty health stores – and a stovetop (or loads of candles!). Perfect for a cold night-in and 100% delicious.
7. Put Together A Playlist
Curate your favourite holiday tunes for every activity. Make an upbeat playlist for a dinner party, a warm jazzy one (Billie Holiday anyone?) for your festive cooking adventures, and another one for when you do some much-needed holiday decluttering.
8. Gift Homemade Treats & Ornaments To Someone Unexpected
Make someone’s day by! In past years, we’ve shared about Kindness Advent Calendars whereby you perform random acts of kindness every day in December but it doesn’t have to be a prescribed formula. Whether it is your local cashier, next-door neighbour, or the person in front of the line when you grab a coffee, it’s for sure that they will feel the love with a delivery of homemade treats or an adorable D-I-Y upcycled ornament.
9. Read A Book
Sitting down with a book used to be a basic Christmas activity, but not anymore. It feels like we hardly get the time to dive into a novel nowadays, so take the opportunity this Christmas to do so – Bill Gates has a great end-of-the-year reading list you may want to check out.
Lead image courtesy of Unsplash.
Author
