It took a bit of time but I’ve noticed if I package the gifts I’m giving in a sustainable way but by going the extra mile and adding decorative aspects that add more interest, people are more likely to say “this is so cute! I love how you wrapped this!” And then I take that as the opportunity to say “thanks! Isn’t it great?! Everything is sustainable! Did you know wrapping papers and bows aren’t recyclable?!” They usually simply didn’t know that. And once you bring it to their attention in that way I’ve noticed I’ve seen them start paying attention to it as well. Like this year a coworker made a point to tell me she swapped ribbon for twine. Another friend told me she kept all her gift bags from last year and reused them to pass along this year. It’s funny, I guess from being with my coworkers so many hours of my life I’ve been rubbing off on them the most. They actually get excited to tell me about swaps they’ve made because they go “I knew you’d be proud of me” 😂😂😂 This year I’m literally gifting my entire family a “zero waste on the go” kits I’ve made, including a cute tote bag I customized for each person
I am there for all of this! 💚 I have friends and family telling me the same thing and it's so amazing when sustainability brings us closer together. Merry Christmas, I hope your family is going to like the presents 💚
I have been experiencing the same thing... family, friends, colleagues, etc generally want to do good things for the environment but they are often unaware of the small and impactful changes that they can make. Not to sound arrogant or conceited here, but it is so great that we can be role models for our peeps and help them to create change in a positive and empowering manner. Have an excellent and awesome day, and Merry Christmas to you.
Mary Charlebois spot on! It’s awkward in the beginning! For some reason you think people will find you annoying or be negative. Instead they are almost always intrigued and appreciate you showing them something new, most times even look up to you for leading the way! Humans are always finding things to disagree on, but the fact that this planet is our home is one solid thing we all have in common and you can’t actually hate our home! Doing something sustainable I find gives people that same feel good high that giving a gift to a loved one or doing something nice for them. It’s natural for us to want to take care of our planet. We’ve simply been trained to do otherwise by society norms. Once we see there’s another way thats better, we are usually susceptible to it. Someone has to be the person to go against the grain! I don’t mind being that person anymore! It’s always well received! Merry Christmas to you too!
@@ashleylawrence3371 YASSSS... Ashley you nailed it! Love your thoughts written above! I can totally relate to that “feel good high” and I, too, am 100% willing in every capacity to be that person who goes against the grain. I’m a high school sewing teacher (in northern Canada) and I am always encouraging and educating teens on how they can take better care of the planet with the simplest of individual actions. They always feel proud when they do something sustainable and they definitely want to tell me about it! Seasons Greetings to you my friend and to all the Eco Warriors out there. 🌲⛄️🇨🇦
For my husbands' christmas present I donated money for 2 trees to be planted. We dont have much money but wanted to spend it on something that means something x
I live in the wilderness with my partner in BC, Canada. We don’t have much shopping and we like to keep it simple with gifts such as vegan soap, candles, tea, and good quality coffee and chocolate. Also, my hubs is tech savvy (me... not so much) so I ask for a new play list on my iPod every Christmas and birthday which he loves to do because we are not shoppers (200km round trip to get to real stores). The “experience gift” I am giving this year is we are going to a professional hockey game (yes, we Canadians do love our hockey). Also, I am a sewing teacher so I make and give produce bags and canvas shopping bags to one and all. People love them, and I am drowning in donated fabric and scraps so it is a win-win situation. Thanks for this fun and festive video Gittemary... love your crafty and resourceful touch... and your cheerful approach!!
As a child I asked my mum to donate to a family in need and we ended up being a part of their life for 5 years it was an amazing experience and I saved every letter we wrote to each other.
I totally respect you. After moving to the countryside, I really want to become minimalist but it’s not easy . I plan on trying this Christmas . Thanx for sharing your ideas
I love, love, love all of this! My family is hung up on the idea that they must buy me new things so I write down a few things I have been eyeing from sustainable, ethical companies. I will be making some yummy food and trying to put love, traditions, music, and stories at the center of our celebrations.
My family has always just used the paper advent calendar with the pictures inside. Even though it’s not really a surprise or a treat it’s still a very lovely tradition when you get the ones with pretty pictures. Lots of antique ones are very nice to open every year.
At 11:30 ish you mentioned about "small basically useless gifts" which sounds so much like Christmas Crackers in the UK, they are made of shiny card, with a plasticky ribbon and have a 'snap', they're fun for about 2 minutes, and then the small plastic/ metal gift is put in a drawer to never be seen again... :(
We recently downsized homes and discovered a treasure trove of regifted from xmas past So we rewrapped them in newspaper and put them in a pillowcase . Whenever someone shows up in December gets to pull a gift from the back and take a gift along with paper wrapped toilet paper. Only rule is that they can't give it back unless it's a regift Makes a great surprise gift for friends over the holidays
The same thing has been happening to me... people give me 2nd hand or thrifted gifts because they know that this gesture adds so much more value to the gift (no matter what the gift is). Too me, when we have this type of impact on our friends and family... it is so rewarding and a total win-win for everybody and for the environment. I hope you are having an excellent and awesome day.
You can wrap stuff in fabric bags or tea towels...so it's not just a piece of fabric and more useful. I'm getting my sister a pampering basket. Weirdly focused on feet...meh and I gift her a towel. Wich I'm gonna wrap all the stuff in. Also thrifted some new unused fabric tissues which I'm gonna use as a wrapper. My daughter an me made some Christmas ornaments. They're in a shoebox we decorated and which can store decor when it's not Christmas. And one more: newspaper. I live in Germany and we get this free newspaper. I have a sticker on my post box...but it still finds its way in. So I wrap some in that. Which, i think, can look really cool...oh one more burlap. My mums I wrap in burlap that she can use for her plants afterwards to keep them from frost over winter... Edit: wrap not rap
Mixed materials? I wonder… In Sweden we have alot of recycled wrappingpaper that can be recycled as "paper packages" again after use (or be used again and again) . Ofc tape and uch things can´t follow the paper to the recycling bin. Don´t you have the same in Denmark? We do have mixed material paper to tho that tend to be less every year. If I wrapp something it will be in "Brown paper" or put in a regifted giftbag. One of the things I give every christmas is homemade jam, chutney, marmalade aso and then the jar/bottle aso and that is the greatest "wrapping" : ) Just add a tag with the neme on. Ofc the best thing is no package at all and the next best something good that is also a gift and will be used.
If both materials are cardboard then yes, it can be recycled here in DK as well. I was referring to mixed materials like paper with plastic lining or glitter printing, those are very common here and cannot be recycled :(
This is a great video! I'm going to 'make' the twig decor too :) This year I'm making my friends cotton grocery bags out of old T-shirts and bedding because I'm a poor student. They also dubble as gift wraps, so it's a win-win.
@@Gittemary Love the term “get the memo”... a polite and slightly humourous way to get the message out to folks. I’m gonna be using that one for sure... thanks Gittemary.
For food I'm worried about people still being hungry so I still go with abundance, however I limit myself to 1 dish (or 2 if the à very big celebration) that cannot be frozen, everything else must be freezable. Then I have plans for leftovers, particularly the non-freezable dish. My attitude is, plan for leftovers rather than going without and avoiding leftovers. After all no matter how well you portion things, circumstances change and can magically mean you have accidentally over or under catered.
I live in the city, so no forest, but I have this huge cemetery close to me, with lots of trees and I just went there and collected pine cones and branches. Sometimes you'll even find flowers and other decor in the trash or composting piles that are still in really good condition. Some might say it's weird but honestly, I don't care. I'm not stealing from people's graves, but tbh dead people don't need fresh flowers and plastic decor. My family has decided that none of us want this type of grave, we will choose a natural forest cemetery. No work, less cost, much more sustainable and visiting a forest is also much nicer than most cemeteries. Didn't mean to go so dark. Anyway my diy christmas wreath turned out pretty.
Whoah I think you broke my fast-speaking record in this video :P Love your décor ideas. I always keep all wrapping material that comes my way, including some of the paper, when I am gifted something. I have a box full of ribbons, tags, gift bags and other bits that I keep and use on other presents. I have no shame of asking for those bits back either, when I have passed the present on. I know these things just end up in the bin otherwise and at least I can re-use them then. I would love not to get any gifts, but bizarrely people seem to think you rude when you don't ask for anything. I think that's the biggest problem, I genuinely do not want anything and am vocal about it, but still people insist on buying things,.In my family circle, I have at least narrowed it down to useful things I would buy anyway eventually, or experiences. But my bug bear are those gimmicky things, no one wants and no one needs... not to mention "secret santas" beh! My gifts this year are handmade where I can and only consumables where I have not made them.
“Bug Bear”... love that... what a great term!! Hope you don’t mind if I use that one... also, I completely agree with your comment above. Have a great day and a Merry Christmas.
Kan du ikke lave en jule video hvor du laver det du spiser juleaften? Jeg elsker nye opskrifter, men jeg har meget nemmere ved at lave dem, hvis jeg har set nogen lave dem før ;-)
It took a bit of time but I’ve noticed if I package the gifts I’m giving in a sustainable way but by going the extra mile and adding decorative aspects that add more interest, people are more likely to say “this is so cute! I love how you wrapped this!” And then I take that as the opportunity to say “thanks! Isn’t it great?! Everything is sustainable! Did you know wrapping papers and bows aren’t recyclable?!” They usually simply didn’t know that. And once you bring it to their attention in that way I’ve noticed I’ve seen them start paying attention to it as well. Like this year a coworker made a point to tell me she swapped ribbon for twine. Another friend told me she kept all her gift bags from last year and reused them to pass along this year.
It’s funny, I guess from being with my coworkers so many hours of my life I’ve been rubbing off on them the most. They actually get excited to tell me about swaps they’ve made because they go “I knew you’d be proud of me” 😂😂😂
This year I’m literally gifting my entire family a “zero waste on the go” kits I’ve made, including a cute tote bag I customized for each person
I am there for all of this! 💚 I have friends and family telling me the same thing and it's so amazing when sustainability brings us closer together. Merry Christmas, I hope your family is going to like the presents 💚
Gittemary Johansen yes! 🙌🏼 merry Christmas to you and your family as well! ❤️🎄
I have been experiencing the same thing... family, friends, colleagues, etc generally want to do good things for the environment but they are often unaware of the small and impactful changes that they can make. Not to sound arrogant or conceited here, but it is so great that we can be role models for our peeps and help them to create change in a positive and empowering manner. Have an excellent and awesome day, and Merry Christmas to you.
Mary Charlebois spot on! It’s awkward in the beginning! For some reason you think people will find you annoying or be negative. Instead they are almost always intrigued and appreciate you showing them something new, most times even look up to you for leading the way! Humans are always finding things to disagree on, but the fact that this planet is our home is one solid thing we all have in common and you can’t actually hate our home! Doing something sustainable I find gives people that same feel good high that giving a gift to a loved one or doing something nice for them. It’s natural for us to want to take care of our planet. We’ve simply been trained to do otherwise by society norms. Once we see there’s another way thats better, we are usually susceptible to it. Someone has to be the person to go against the grain! I don’t mind being that person anymore! It’s always well received!
Merry Christmas to you too!
@@ashleylawrence3371 YASSSS... Ashley you nailed it! Love your thoughts written above! I can totally relate to that “feel good high” and I, too, am 100% willing in every capacity to be that person who goes against the grain. I’m a high school sewing teacher (in northern Canada) and I am always encouraging and educating teens on how they can take better care of the planet with the simplest of individual actions. They always feel proud when they do something sustainable and they definitely want to tell me about it! Seasons Greetings to you my friend and to all the Eco Warriors out there. 🌲⛄️🇨🇦
For my husbands' christmas present I donated money for 2 trees to be planted. We dont have much money but wanted to spend it on something that means something x
That's AMAZING 💚 I wish you both a merry Christmas 🌿
Hats K - That’s a lovely idea ! It bought a tear to my eye 💕
I live in the wilderness with my partner in BC, Canada. We don’t have much shopping and we like to keep it simple with gifts such as vegan soap, candles, tea, and good quality coffee and chocolate. Also, my hubs is tech savvy (me... not so much) so I ask for a new play list on my iPod every Christmas and birthday which he loves to do because we are not shoppers (200km round trip to get to real stores). The “experience gift” I am giving this year is we are going to a professional hockey game (yes, we Canadians do love our hockey). Also, I am a sewing teacher so I make and give produce bags and canvas shopping bags to one and all. People love them, and I am drowning in donated fabric and scraps so it is a win-win situation. Thanks for this fun and festive video Gittemary... love your crafty and resourceful touch... and your cheerful approach!!
Sounds like heaven to me.
That is so cool!
This honestly does sound like heaven! And thank you so much, I am so happy that you like this video! Merry Christmas 💚
As a child I asked my mum to donate to a family in need and we ended up being a part of their life for 5 years it was an amazing experience and I saved every letter we wrote to each other.
I totally respect you. After moving to the countryside, I really want to become minimalist but it’s not easy . I plan on trying this Christmas . Thanx for sharing your ideas
I love, love, love all of this! My family is hung up on the idea that they must buy me new things so I write down a few things I have been eyeing from sustainable, ethical companies. I will be making some yummy food and trying to put love, traditions, music, and stories at the center of our celebrations.
That sounds incredible 💚
My family has always just used the paper advent calendar with the pictures inside. Even though it’s not really a surprise or a treat it’s still a very lovely tradition when you get the ones with pretty pictures. Lots of antique ones are very nice to open every year.
I am always going to the forest ! The best collection for nature decoration!!
Exactly! 🌴
I love pine cones, rocks, leaves etc lol
At 11:30 ish you mentioned about "small basically useless gifts" which sounds so much like Christmas Crackers in the UK, they are made of shiny card, with a plasticky ribbon and have a 'snap', they're fun for about 2 minutes, and then the small plastic/ metal gift is put in a drawer to never be seen again... :(
We recently downsized homes and discovered a treasure trove of regifted from xmas past
So we rewrapped them in newspaper and put them in a pillowcase . Whenever someone shows up in December gets to pull a gift from the back and take a gift along with paper wrapped toilet paper. Only rule is that they can't give it back unless it's a regift
Makes a great surprise gift for friends over the holidays
If I buy gifts I buy them second hand and people who know me gift me second-hand things :) to gift wrap them I use second-hand gift bags or newspaper
Aaaaaw thank sounds AMAZING! Also with the all vegan feast, so cool! Merry Christmas 🌿
The same thing has been happening to me... people give me 2nd hand or thrifted gifts because they know that this gesture adds so much more value to the gift (no matter what the gift is). Too me, when we have this type of impact on our friends and family... it is so rewarding and a total win-win for everybody and for the environment. I hope you are having an excellent and awesome day.
Secret Santa saves time, money and the planet. One gift for one person that you know they’ll love.
You can wrap stuff in fabric bags or tea towels...so it's not just a piece of fabric and more useful. I'm getting my sister a pampering basket. Weirdly focused on feet...meh and I gift her a towel. Wich I'm gonna wrap all the stuff in. Also thrifted some new unused fabric tissues which I'm gonna use as a wrapper. My daughter an me made some Christmas ornaments. They're in a shoebox we decorated and which can store decor when it's not Christmas. And one more: newspaper. I live in Germany and we get this free newspaper. I have a sticker on my post box...but it still finds its way in. So I wrap some in that. Which, i think, can look really cool...oh one more burlap. My mums I wrap in burlap that she can use for her plants afterwards to keep them from frost over winter...
Edit: wrap not rap
Happy December to everyone!
I love making my own decor! So much so that I made a video with all the decor I made myself this year ;) I loved all your tips thanks for sharing!
I love your gift wrapping so much! 🎁🎀🎄
Mixed materials? I wonder… In Sweden we have alot of recycled wrappingpaper that can be recycled as "paper packages" again after use (or be used again and again) . Ofc tape and uch things can´t follow the paper to the recycling bin. Don´t you have the same in Denmark?
We do have mixed material paper to tho that tend to be less every year. If I wrapp something it will be in "Brown paper" or put in a regifted giftbag. One of the things I give every christmas is homemade jam, chutney, marmalade aso and then the jar/bottle aso and that is the greatest "wrapping" : ) Just add a tag with the neme on.
Ofc the best thing is no package at all and the next best something good that is also a gift and will be used.
If both materials are cardboard then yes, it can be recycled here in DK as well. I was referring to mixed materials like paper with plastic lining or glitter printing, those are very common here and cannot be recycled :(
This is a great video! I'm going to 'make' the twig decor too :)
This year I'm making my friends cotton grocery bags out of old T-shirts and bedding because I'm a poor student. They also dubble as gift wraps, so it's a win-win.
Thanks for this.. I am now finding this time of year depressing because of materialistic consumerism 😢
We can change our habits and hope the world will get the memo
@@Gittemary Love the term “get the memo”... a polite and slightly humourous way to get the message out to folks. I’m gonna be using that one for sure... thanks Gittemary.
Thanks for your energy!!
For food I'm worried about people still being hungry so I still go with abundance, however I limit myself to 1 dish (or 2 if the à very big celebration) that cannot be frozen, everything else must be freezable. Then I have plans for leftovers, particularly the non-freezable dish.
My attitude is, plan for leftovers rather than going without and avoiding leftovers. After all no matter how well you portion things, circumstances change and can magically mean you have accidentally over or under catered.
I live in the city, so no forest, but I have this huge cemetery close to me, with lots of trees and I just went there and collected pine cones and branches. Sometimes you'll even find flowers and other decor in the trash or composting piles that are still in really good condition. Some might say it's weird but honestly, I don't care. I'm not stealing from people's graves, but tbh dead people don't need fresh flowers and plastic decor. My family has decided that none of us want this type of grave, we will choose a natural forest cemetery. No work, less cost, much more sustainable and visiting a forest is also much nicer than most cemeteries. Didn't mean to go so dark. Anyway my diy christmas wreath turned out pretty.
We're giving treedom trees and bracelets and cooking ovens in Africa xxx
Merry Chrysler
Whoah I think you broke my fast-speaking record in this video :P Love your décor ideas. I always keep all wrapping material that comes my way, including some of the paper, when I am gifted something. I have a box full of ribbons, tags, gift bags and other bits that I keep and use on other presents. I have no shame of asking for those bits back either, when I have passed the present on. I know these things just end up in the bin otherwise and at least I can re-use them then. I would love not to get any gifts, but bizarrely people seem to think you rude when you don't ask for anything. I think that's the biggest problem, I genuinely do not want anything and am vocal about it, but still people insist on buying things,.In my family circle, I have at least narrowed it down to useful things I would buy anyway eventually, or experiences. But my bug bear are those gimmicky things, no one wants and no one needs... not to mention "secret santas" beh! My gifts this year are handmade where I can and only consumables where I have not made them.
“Bug Bear”... love that... what a great term!! Hope you don’t mind if I use that one... also, I completely agree with your comment above. Have a great day and a Merry Christmas.
We have a drawer of bits from crackers that hubby won't throw away
That sound effect😂
I thought it would be festive lol - maybe it's going to drive everyone insane, exciting either way 😂
My son called me cheap the other day cause I’m a minimalist lol 😊 I know some of my ways are gonna stick with him ❤️
Haha people often say the same thing to me, just keep doing you ! 😂🙌👌
I wonder if anyone would like to experience cleaning some really mucky cupboards 😂xx
Kan du ikke lave en jule video hvor du laver det du spiser juleaften? Jeg elsker nye opskrifter, men jeg har meget nemmere ved at lave dem, hvis jeg har set nogen lave dem før ;-)
Signe Mejlvang de klip der er med af maden er det jeg spiser og der er en opskrift i beskrivelsen 😊🌿
You can go out in nature and buy it...
Wait what?
LOL 🤣🤣🤣