The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) South Africa wants to encourage consumers to reduce the amount of waste usually associated with the holidays.
With many South Africans bracing themselves for a festive season filled with family, friends and gift-giving, Eitan Prince, digital communications manager with WWF-SA said, “The WWF mantra is to ‘refuse, reduce and reuse’ and then ‘recycle’. This includes asking yourself whether you really need what you’re about to buy, taking your own reusable bags along with you to the supermarket, cutting down on packaging, and choosing reusable, durable goods over single-use items. Once you’ve followed all these steps, we also want you to recycle as much as possible.”
Prince provides ways we can reduce waste this festive season
- All that glitters is not gold: Sparkly glitter is very festive but much of it’s made from microplastics which can end up polluting the environment or be consumed by fish, birds and other animals. Consider plastic-free decor such as glass jars filled with beautiful succulents and decorations made from fabrics or ribbon.
- Gift wrapping alternatives: Wrapping paper, each year tons of it finds its way to landfills so rather use leftover birthday wrapping paper or gift bags? “You could experiment with covering gifts with fabric, old newspapers or put them into any attractive tins, boxes or jars you may have lying around your home or office.”
- Show love to local producers: There are many local designers and producers making exciting and innovative products from sustainable materials.
The festive season doesn’t need to be the season of excess and waste.
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