Christmas
Tips for a sustainable Christmas
Christmas is the moment for gifts, festive outfits, and beautifully laid tables. This makes Christmas not the most sustainable holiday. Fortunately, it can be different. So it's time for a change! Read our tips for sustainable Christmas shopping in Breda. Nice to give, receive, and wear, and better for the world.
Buy your party outfit second-hand.
Second-hand clothing has shed its dusty image for good. In Breda, you will increasingly find shops where the pre-owned clothing is hardly distinguishable from new. Carefully selected and cleaned and of high quality. Leading up to the holidays, you will also see the most festive outfits showcased here. This way, you can steal the show at the Christmas dinner without putting extra strain on the planet.
Sustainable Christmas tree
Room Spruce from The Green Submarine
The Green Submarine in St. Annastraat has the perfect alternative for a Christmas tree: the room spruce. You can enjoy it all year round, and at Christmas, you can dress it up with baubles and lights to give it a proper festive outfit.
Beter Boompje
Prefer a real Christmas tree instead? At BeterBoompje, you can return your Christmas tree (with root ball) in January. If you buy a tree here without a root ball, BeterBoompje will plant two organic cuttings back in the Christmas tree forest for you. In Breda, you can pick up your ordered tree at Wolfslaar, or you can have it delivered to your home. Nice and easy.
Christmas decorations from the thrift store
Looking for decorations for the Christmas tree or to bring a festive atmosphere to your home? Then it's worth going treasure hunting at a charity shop. There you'll find them in all shapes and sizes. Items with a story, which may have brought joy to people for many years and are now waiting to brighten up your Christmas.
Gift tip 1: Marie Stella Maris
Buying a gift while doing something good for the world. Sounds good, right? From every sale, Marie Stella Maris donates a percentage to projects that ensure people worldwide have access to clean drinking water. So far, the company has donated over 2 million euros!
The beauty products from Marie Stella Maris are produced in an environmentally friendly way, and the packaging is made from recycled materials. The refills help reduce waste. A gift with a good feeling!
Veemarktstraat 29
Gift tip 2: LOYA
At LOYA, Yara and Lotte bring together all sorts of sustainable brands offering trendy lifestyle products. Whether it's women's and men's clothing, home accessories, or personal care products, LOYA is the place for beautiful and fair items. No greenwashing here. All products are carefully selected to ensure that you can shop with a peaceful (green) heart!
Wilhelminastraat 31
Packing Japanese-style
Have you ever heard of Furoshiki? With this Japanese way of wrapping, you can create beautiful gifts in a sustainable way.
Furoshiki uses (square) cloths instead of single-use wrapping paper. You tie the cloth around your gift in a specific way and finish it off with a nice twig or card. The wrapping cloth can be reused time and again.
Shopping without packaging
Cucumbers in plastic, peppers in plastic... it's enough to make you feel hopeless. That can be different when you do your Christmas shopping at the market. You simply bring your own shopping bag and that's it. Sometimes being sustainable is quite easy.
By the way, did you know that there is a organic farmers' market on Veemarktstraat on Tuesday mornings? Double sustainable!
What you can also do is go to the red bus of Breda Food Co-Op! During the month of December they can be found several times at different locations in Breda. Here you can do packaging-free shopping. On the page of Breda Food Co-Op you can find all the dates of their locations. Attention! Bring your own packaging.
Products up close
At farm shops, you buy products that are produced 'just around the corner'. This way, your groceries do not have to make a long journey before they are in the store. Did you know that there are quite a few farm shops in and around Breda where you can do your grocery shopping?
Help combat food waste
Almost 10% of all food that is produced is thrown away by shops or consumers! Quite a waste! Fortunately, there is increasing attention to this issue, and the number of initiatives to combat food wastage is steadily growing.
Just take a look at the app of your trusted supermarket. They might offer 'leftovers' or 'ugly produce' or provide a significant discount on products that are nearing their use-by date. There’s nothing wrong with that, and they are also cheaper.
In Breda, you can also fight food wastage by participating in programmes like 'Out of the Box', Too Good To Go, Breda makes me happy, and No Waste Army.
All of these are ways to serve a delicious Christmas dinner more sustainably (and often more cheaply) at the table.
