Five ways to spend and waste less this Christmas

Christmas is simply a clip to observe with household and friends but its existent meaning tin get mislaid successful a blizzard of panic buying, over-consumption and waste. This year, arsenic the cost-of-living situation bites, we asked immoderate experts for their tips connected however to walk less, discarded little and inactive bask the festivities.

Christmas brings the dilemma of what to bargain for that idiosyncratic who ever buys you something.

But Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis warns against what helium describes arsenic "tit-for-tat giving".

He told BBC 5 Live's Big Green Money Show that astir of america person an "ever-growing database of extended family, friends and teachers that we consciousness obligated to bargain for".

The user champion's apical extremity is to person those conversations aboriginal and to onslaught a "no unnecessary presents pact".

Carbon footprint adept Prof Mike Berners-Lee agrees.

"If you're feeling fiscal unit this Christmas, conscionable get the negotiations going with friends and household close now," helium says.

Setting a spending bounds oregon organising a Secret Santa tin really beryllium much fun, helium says.

"If you've kept to a bounds of a lb oregon whatever, past cipher tin lose. If you hatred it, good it was lone a portion of amusive anyway."

He besides advises that you support receipts and beryllium honorable if you don't similar a present.

"If my woman doesn't similar what I've got her, she volition instantly archer me. It possibly takes a spot of getting utilized to but it's amended that way."

If you tin spend it and privation to walk more, vouchers tin beryllium a bully mode to guarantee the recipient gets a acquisition they really want, helium adds.

There is ever astatine slightest 1 constituent of the festive feast that cipher likes but you ever buy, oregon a dainty that you were simply excessively afloat to eat.

Helen Bird from discarded simplification foundation Wrap says: "Food is 1 country wherever it's casual to economise without Christmas feasting being immoderate little fun."

She suggests sticking to a database and lone buying precisely what you need, past making definite leftovers are utilized up.

Figures from Wrap amusement 6.6 cardinal tonnes of edible nutrient is thrown distant successful the UK each year. Most of this comes from our homes, not supermarkets and restaurants.

"You tin store nutrient close up to midnight connected immoderate use-by date," Ms Bird says. "And your freezer is your person earlier and aft the large day."

To marque Christmas meal adjacent greener, see going plant-based.

"The subject is truly wide cut," says Prof Berners-Lee. "We've got to trim the magnitude of nutrient and dairy successful our diets by a agelong way. And with each the unit connected turkeys due to the fact that of avian flu... this twelvemonth surely is the twelvemonth to springiness it a go."

Driving location for Christmas tin make a important c footprint oregon "love miles" arsenic Prof Berners-Lee puts it.

Some 27 cardinal trips were made during the run-up to Christmas successful 2021, according to the RAC.

Time with household is precious truthful instrumentality less journeys but walk longer with your loved ones erstwhile you do, says Prof Berners-Lee.

Taking a travel connected nationalist transport is simply a greener prime but not ever an option. The RAC suggests car sharing to little your Christmas mileage and travelling erstwhile the roads are quieter.

"Getting stuck successful jams wastes invaluable time, but if you're successful a petrol oregon diesel car, you're besides wasting substance needlessly," says Rod Dennis from the RAC.

He suggests starting journeys aboriginal successful the greeting oregon aboriginal astatine nighttime to bushed the traffic.

When Christmas Day is implicit you tin find yourself surrounded by a upland of wrapping insubstantial and piles of packaging. A bully mode to cheque if wrapping insubstantial is recyclable, according to Wrap, is the "scrunch test".

If the insubstantial keeps its signifier aft being crumpled, it tin spell successful the recycling, and there's nary request to region sticky tape. If it springs backmost into shape, it cannot beryllium recycled.

But, if you can, debar glittery paper, says Wrap's Helen Bird.

"Glitter wreaks havoc successful the insubstantial recycling," she says, "and erstwhile it comes to recycling Christmas cards, teardrop disconnected immoderate glittery sections."

Tinsel and baubles, whether solid oregon plastic, besides cannot beryllium recycled. It is greenest - and cheapest - to instrumentality bully attraction of existing decorations and reuse them twelvemonth aft year.

The Big Green Money Show spoke to parents and children successful Warrington who each agreed the astir important portion of Christmas is not presents, but spending clip with family.

"It's astir having fun," says Prof Mike Berners-Lee. "It's astir having a large clip with the radical you similar and emotion the most. It's astir relaxing and each of that tin beryllium done successful a greenish way."

You tin find BBC 5 Live's Big Green Money Show with Deborah Meaden and Felicity Hannah connected BBC Sounds.