Every year it is more important that we pay attention to caring for the environment . Every year we are closer to the situation becoming irreversible . That is why at Alma Eko we will always invite you to review your consumption habits so that they are as sustainable as possible.
Christmas is a time when we easily go overboard with consumerism , whether it be in the form of gifts, parties (not this year) and food. For this reason, today we want to encourage you to observe how you consume this month and consider certain changes that you can make in three areas: gifts, decoration and food .
Sustainable gifts
We already have a very complete post on the blog in which we tell you how to identify if a gift is sustainable . We also gave you ideas for non-material gifts and suggested some gift options that you can purchase at Alma Eko.
Since then, we have expanded our Christmas gift section and we would like to highlight some of the packs we have designed especially for these dates and that you are loving.
This is our selection of the 5 best sustainable gifts from Alma Eko .
Ideal for beginners . Contains the best personal care products from Alma Eko.
We have selected your four favourite varieties of Jabones del Zorro d'Avi in a single pack so that you can purchase them at a cheaper price and give them as gifts together or individually.
This complete pack will provide a pleasant feeling of well-being by allowing you to take care of your skin and your senses. Treat yourself to a moment of relaxation with an exfoliating shower using the loofah sponge and one of our Ayurvedic soaps. Add aroma to the atmosphere with one of the crackling soy candles or by burning a jasmine or white sage incense stick.
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Matarrania treatment packs: sensitive skin , dry skin and combination skin
They are a real gem . They all include an eye cream, a cleansing and makeup removing lotion, a gentle rose toner and the moisturiser of your choice (for dry, combination or sensitive skin). They also come with a gift bag.
This complete pack is carefully selected to take care of babies' hygiene and skin. It features the highest quality and useful cosmetic products, such as sponges and brushes, suitable for their sensitive skin.
Natural Christmas Decoration
Conventional Christmas decorations are full of plastics . Today we are going to give you a lot of options that are much more sustainable and, in addition, economical. We are going to propose decorating your home with natural, compostable, reused, reusable and, in addition, handmade elements, in most cases. All of them are zero waste proposals , they do not generate waste.
You will see that we will more or less always opt for the same materials :
- Citrus and dried apples
They are very easy to make. Cut oranges, lemons, grapefruits and/or apples into slices and put them in the oven at 150 degrees for two hours. Every 20 minutes you turn them over. If they are well dried and toasted, they will be good for the following year. If not, they will be less toasted and with more vivid colours, but they will not last from one year to the next. In that case, you can compost them. That is, they do not generate waste.
- Cinnamon sticks
A couple of cinnamon sticks tied with string are a very simple and effective decoration. You can save them and use them the following year. They are compostable.
- Natural pineapples
This topic can be controversial. Please don't buy them. It would be best to pick them from your garden, if you have that option. If you pick them from the wild, make sure they don't belong in a protected area. Once the holidays are over, store them for next year or return them to their surroundings. Very important, THEIR ENVIRONMENT. Don't leave pine cones in a place where they don't belong, as this can affect the ecosystem.
- Pine or rosemary branches
In our case, we have taken them from our own garden, from plants that periodically need pruning. Whenever you can, opt for alternatives like this.
And just like in the previous case, after using them, return them to nature or throw them into the compost bin.
In the case of rosemary, once Christmas is over, it will be dry. What we do is wash it to remove the dust, let it dry again, separate the leaves from the stem, crush them and use them to season our food.
- Kraft paper and cardboard
In this case, we invite you to reuse it. Throughout the year, you will get your hands on this type of material because it is very common in packaging. Don't throw it away (or at least not all of it). You can use it to decorate and wrap gifts in very original ways. (We will talk about gift wrapping next week).
- Raffia rope and ribbon
They are materials that are easy to find by the meter and without plastic packaging in neighborhood haberdasheries.
- Candles
If you are very handy, we encourage you to make your own candles, of course. If you prefer us to make it easier for you, at Alma Eko we have several options. We are going to highlight 3 of the ones we are in love with: coconut shell candles (with three different aroma varieties: toasted coconut , tropical fruits and coconut and lime ) or Innocence Christmas candles in glass or ceramic .
Once the materials have been proposed, we will give you concrete ideas :
Make your own Christmas tree decorations
We suggest a minimalist tree , with few and simple decorations, but very effective. In the image you can see 5 options: natural pine cones, dried orange slices, dried apple slices, a label made with kraft paper and some cinnamon sticks.
For the photo, we hung them on a tree in our garden. This is an option, as is decorating any other plant you have in your house , whatever type it is.
Of course, if you have time, don't buy a plastic tree, much less a real one. But, if you've had an artificial one for years, keep getting the most out of it. Don't throw it away. The same goes for the decorations you already have. Keep using them as long as you like them and find them useful and decorative. The most ecological and sustainable thing to do is to use what you already have .
Ambient decoration
If you like to decorate several corners or each room has a Christmas touch, we suggest you use options such as the candles we talked about earlier. Also our Christmas plantable , with which you can decorate a corner of your home or your Christmas tree. After the holidays, you can cut up the card and plant it in the ground, since the paper is biodegradable and contains lettuce seeds. In addition, all profits from the sale of these cards will go to the Food Recovery Network of Rivas , the receiving entity of the Food Bank of Madrid . With this money they can buy food and/or cover expenses of the organization. So you decorate and help people and the environment. It's 3 for 1!
Do you like to put a Christmas wreath on your door? We do. We made this one with rosemary branches, orange, pine cones and cinnamon. You can see a video of how we did it on our IGTV . We got the idea from this Vida Minimalista video .
Finally, in this section of room decoration, we propose a simple vase. As you can see in the image, we have decorated it with cinnamon sticks, natural pine cones, rope, orange and apple slices and it also includes cloves. You can see it in more detail in this video from our Instagram account . The aroma it gives off is indescribable. Our inspiration, in this case, has been this video from Estelamaca .
Christmas table decoration
There are people who love to set a pretty table. We are going to suggest two options for centerpieces and napkin rings.
The first centerpiece is very simple. It only has pine cones, some fir branches and a coconut shell candle . All of it on a pretty tray.
Another more elaborate, yet simple, centerpiece is this one with oranges, string, cloves, cinnamon and fir branches. You can see the orange decoration in this video by Solitude of Alanna .
We made the napkin ring with a raffia ribbon (you can make it with several turns of a thick rope), orange slices and rosemary. But it also looks great with cinnamon. We were inspired by this video by Sara Sabaté, although instead of hot glue we tied it with a thin string.
Sustainable food
We have left a big topic for last: food during the holidays. It is so easy to go overboard here, either because of the quantity or because the food may not be healthy or sustainable.
We are not going to ask you not to eat meat. It is a very personal issue. But we do want to tell you that foods of animal origin are more polluting . So, we are going to ask you to at least reduce your consumption. And if you eat animals, try to make sure they are organic .
We also encourage you to shop locally . Go back to local shops and, if they can serve you local products , even better. In addition, these types of shops will not give you any problems when buying in bulk . Bring your own reusable jars or bags and avoid plastic containers.
Finally, regarding food, we are going to recommend four Instagram accounts where you will find healthy and sustainable options so that you can have a delicious Christmas: Chef Bosquet ,
