Every year, the Advent and Christmas season comes around again. For many, Christmas is the biggest and most wonderful celebration of the year, with many traditions that are celebrated within families—from Advent calendars and eating goose to putting up Christmas trees. Some habits, such as buying last-minute gifts, are no longer advisable because they are due to our hectic lifestyle and because they often harm nature and the environment. However, a beautiful and environmentally friendly (pre-)Christmas season does not have to be mutually exclusive. Perhaps you have already thought about approaching the holiday season a little differently, but how? We give you selected suggestions for decorating, designing, festive meals, gifts, and much more.

Email Advent calendar

How about a personalized email Advent calendar instead of a chocolate calendar that produces packaging waste? From December 1 to 24, send your loved ones an email every day containing things you have in common, memories, or planned activities. These can be photos, stories, poems, song lyrics, invitations, drawings, or dreams that you would like to share with the person. Using your email program, you can use the message options to schedule the sending of the emails so that they are sent at the time you want.

Mulled wine

Have you ever had a thick head from mulled wine? Industrially produced mulled wine is made from low-quality wines and flavored with aromas and sugar. The more sugar it contains, the faster the alcohol enters the bloodstream. Simply make your own mulled wine from organic wine and spices such as cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom, also in organic quality.

Candles

Candlelight is part of the contemplative Advent season. Ordinary candles are made from petroleum or palm oil and are therefore derived from fossil fuels. There are good alternatives to this. Candles made from renewable biomass (eco or organic candles) are made exclusively from fats and oils that are left over from the food industry. Don't worry, they are odorless.

Other alternatives include candles made from beeswax, GMO-free soy wax, or rapeseed. Before throwing away old candle remnants, you can also use them to make new candles yourself.

Christmas scent in every room ...

Create your own fragrance blend. Mix together spices that you like. Pour boiling water over them and leave to infuse for a few days. Then gently warm them, e.g. on a tea warmer, and the aroma will evaporate into the room. Suitable spices include aniseed, cinnamon, cloves, vanilla, and orange.

Christmas dinner

At Christmas, a special festive meal is served. When planning and shopping, pay attention to where the food comes from and under what conditions it was produced. Give preference to regional, seasonal, fair trade, and organically produced food. Poultry is in particularly high demand, which has a negative impact on husbandry and feeding conditions. You can also contact regional hunters and forestry offices. Here you can obtain local game from the wild or from game reserves. Or try something completely different: dare to serve a vegetarian Christmas menu. Whether pumpkin, black salsify, lamb's lettuce, apples, or pears—a rich variety of local winter vegetables provides variety in the menu. Direct marketers and farmers often offer goods from their own cultivation at the appropriate harvest time.

Give secondhand gifts

Do you often find yourself at a loss for what to give someone because they already have everything? Before you buy something new and perhaps useless, why not put something secondhand under the Christmas tree? Using an item for a long time and then passing it on can also be a way of showing appreciation. Perhaps you have repaired or spruced up the item and added a personal touch. It is guaranteed to be well received by your loved ones!

Furoshiki – the Japanese alternative to wrapping paper

Furoshiki are square cloths that are folded into small bags or gift wrappings in Japan. The advantage of this Japanese tradition is obvious: the cloths can be reused as often as you like and still look sophisticated! And wrapping gifts has never been so quick. You can find fun folding instructions as a PDF on the website of the Japanese Environment Agency (see below).

Christmas tree

Around 30 million trees adorn German living rooms during the holidays. Unfortunately, many of them are not as green as they look: the majority of Christmas trees are grown in monocultures, treated with pesticides, and fertilized. Some silver firs and Nordmann firs have even traveled across Europe. They are imported from Scandinavia, for example. Pine and spruce trees from our region are environmentally friendly. Simply contact your local forestry office for more information.

Alternatively, there is a list of nationwide suppliers of Christmas trees with the Naturland or Bioland seal or the FSC seal (Forest Stewardship Council, see below).

Christmas market

Would you like to visit a Christmas market without junk, plastic, and kidney skewers? There are more and more alternative Christmas markets dedicated to the environment, organic products, fair trade, and veganism. You can find a list in the appendix.

Contemplation

Every Saturday during Advent, the Mainz Environmental Store offers many more ideas for an environmentally friendly Christmas under the motto "Contemplative Environmental Store." Why not stop by and take a look?