A solidary and eco-friendly Christmas with the ADEME

During the end-of-year holiday season, the ADEME, the French agency for ecologic transition engaged in the fight against climate change, guides us in the way of a better consumption with highly diverse advice. How to wrap your gifts ecologically, how to choose a “truly green” tree for Christmas, what solidary and eco-friendly gifts to choose? These are just a few of the many questions you may ask yourself. and here are the practical answers!

The ADEME, the agency for ecological transition placed under the supervision of the French ministries in charge of research and innovation, and ecological and solidarity transition, provides individuals, businesses and local authorities with many ideas for better environmental protection and energy management. Consistent with its role, the ADEME has chosen to keep up with current events by proposing tips to continue to preserve the environment during the Christmas holidays.

How to wrap your gifts?

While, as the ADEME notes, “wastes gain an additional 20,000 tonnes of gift wrap paper at Christmas, so how can we reverse the trend?”. ". The agency therefore provides practical solutions to bend the curve: wrapping with fabrics first, a technique “widely used all over the world and particularly in Japan, where it is called Furoshiki”.  It is also easier to choose Christmas boxes and bags, available everywhere and reusable for various occasions for several years. And why not also use last year’s or last anniversary’s wrapping paper? And finally, one last solution: buy gift wrap paper with an eco-friendly label.

What present to offer?

You have now chosen the gift wrap paper, but you still need a gift to wrap it with!  And that's where a new, even more crucial choice comes in. The ADEME notes that “we are consuming more and more without necessarily being aware of the consequences for the environment”. It is in this spirit of responsibility that more ecological and solidarity-based Christmas gifts are offered.

If it is a digital gift, an environmental label should always be favoured, whether it is for a television, a computer or even a mobile phone, which can be bought repackaged.

For toys, it is preferable to choose toys without batteries, unscented toys (artificial fragrances can be harmful) or, of course, wooden toys with an environmental label.

As for clothing that you may wish to offer, you should look for ethical and ecological clothing and leather goods, or clothing made of organic cotton or recycled materials, not forgetting “handmade”.

As for chocolates, it would be better to opt for “organic and if possible fair trade chocolates”. The ADEME underlines that they are “produced without fertilisers and chemical treatment and allow small producers to receive a fair income for their work, allowing them to live in decent conditions”.

What about the Christmas tree?

And of course, the question of the Christmas tree also comes up. A few keys to making an “informed choice” are offered by the agency, which helps us to see things clearly in a “forest of labels” in order to choose the right natural tree. Because, “contrary to popular belief, our Christmas trees do not contribute to deforestation”, they are “specially cultivated for the occasion on specific plots of land”. So why deprive yourself of a natural tree? Depending on our preferred variety, we will have to choose a tree with a “Plante bleue” (Blue Plant) certification (committed nurserymen), a tree with an MPS label (environmental impact assessment) or an AB label (organic farming). As for the plastic artificial tree, according to the ADEME, it is only of interest if it is “kept for a long time, ideally at least 20 years”.

The entire France Alumni team would like to take this opportunity to wish you a very happy holiday season.

To know more about tips for an ecological and supportive Christmas: https://agirpourlatransition.ademe.fr/particuliers/

 ©Photo credit: Elena Nazarova - stock.adobe.com