Sustainable Christmas Workshop promotes upcycling and reducing waste
Tuesday, 3 December, 2024
It’s the most wonderful time of the year. Especially if you can save money - and the environment - by making your own cards, wrapping paper and decorations.
Ireland generated over 100,000 tonnes of packaging waste last Christmas (source: REPAK). Today a Sustainable Christmas Workshop took place in UCD to encourage staff and students to get creative instead.
“Obviously, we do a lot of consuming and purchasing at Christmas time, which is a lovely thing at times, but I think it's really important to have a sense of community around Christmas and maybe a sense of a slower type of consumption,” says one of the organisers, Kirsten Southard, programme manager of the BSc Sustainability.
“With this event we wanted to emphasise how you can make Christmas a bit more sustainable by painting newspaper to make wrapping paper or creating your own decorations with wood from the garden or making your own Christmas cards. Some fun little things that you can do that don't cost too much.”
Organised by UCD College of Social Sciences and Law, Sustainability Society and Horticulture Society, five leaders showed 46 attendees how to create their own watercolour cards, make clay tree ornaments with leaf motifs, upcycle newspaper for wrapping paper and make decorations from book pages and wood.
BSc Sustainability student Laoise Ní Mharcaigh represented the Horticulture Society at the workshop.
“We're making clay ornaments and pressing foliage on them that we found from the garden or around UCD,” she said. “Then they'll air dry, and you can hang them up on the tree.”
Fellow BSc Sustainability student Kendra Paleczny manned the gift wrapping paper table.
“Instead of buying new we're just using some old newspaper. We've taken some toilet paper rolls and bent them to create a little heart stamp. Once the paint dries you can use it as gift wrapping paper.”
Aside from leaving with their useful upcycled creations, attendees reported enjoying this “mindful” break from the festive hustle and bustle.
“It’s something nice you can do with kids too,” says Kirsten. “It’s a nice family activity.”