21 Dec
  • By Sylwia
  • Cause in

Giving the gift of sustainability

By Sam Lawson

It has been two years since my family and I spent Christmas together, so this season I have made the long trip to Manchester in the UK.

It is really hard to juggle living a low consumption and emission life when faced with the realities of a modern, globally connected world. It’s an incredible thing to be able to fly around the world in less than a day and be reunited with those I love the most. But, this comes at a cost – both personal and environmental.

Sometimes situations like this are unavoidable and there is no doubt that we all face them. We can offset this by as best we can by celebrating an ethical and sustainable Christmas.

In short, when shopping for presents, ask yourself if this person will continue to use the gift? If the answer is yes, then try to give a battery-free present, or at least avoid single use batteries.

You can give local or fairtrade gifts found in stores like Oxfam or your local markets.

Remember that a gift can also be a membership to an organisation they support. But above all, try to give your loved ones an experience and not a thing.

This attitude can easily extend to everyday life by using responsible businesses that are built around ethical and sustainable practices. Having a go to list of trusted businesses takes out the hard work to save time in your busy lives. Here is my list of businesses I trust and support when running around Melbourne:

  • Clothing and Accessories: Retrostar Vintage Clothing (Melbourne CBD) or check out Ethical Clothing to find accredited businesses.
  • Bathroom Essentials and Cosmetics: LUSH (around Australia) or Soap Opera (Olinda, VIC)
  • Household essentials: Flora and Fauna (online)
  • Go to Sunday Brekky: CERES The Merri Table(Brunswick, VIC) or The Farmers Place (Torquay, VIC).

If you need to send your gift to a loved one, use Sendle, Australia’s first 100 per cent carbon neutral delivery service.

As is in my case, at times there might be some emissions producing actions that you simply cannot avoid. If I didn’t visit my family this Christmas, I am not sure if I would live to see Keep Victoria Beautiful improving this state everyday! So, a carbon offsetting scheme like Greenfleet is a good option for everyone to support your emissions reduction efforts.

I hope all of our Beautifuls and everyone else in the KVB family has a Merry Christmas. I look forward to getting back to our HUB and continuing our great work!

List of ethical businesses:

 

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