What do you find in Christmas Crackers? 👐

Up until last year, my family have always used Christmas crackers when we are eating our Christmas dinner. They are very popular, so you probably use them too. But have you ever thought about all the plastic waste that are probably entering landfills? There are so many plastic toys and things that are in there, that we really only use once - and so I believe they could be just as bad as plastic bottles (that isn't a fact, just my opinion.) 

There have been loads of tests to see which brand's cracker was the most eco friendly, and the tests (which were done in 2019, I think) looked at the life-length of the toys, the material the actual cracker is made from, and the recycling information. The results showed how the least eco friendly ones were from Tesco, since the toys came in plastic packaging and there was no clear recycling information; and the most eco friendly ones were from Waitrose, since the toys were long lasting and not wrapped in plastic, and the crackers were mostly recyclable (however there was still glitter in them). But, as you could tell from the sustainability, Tesco's were the cheapest per cracker and Waitrose was the most expensive per cracker. 

So, what are the more eco-friendly options? 

First of all, you should always go for the ones with less glitter, and clear recycling information. This means you can check which things won't go to landfill, and therefore be more eco friendly. If you want to go a step further, you could make your own ones! Here is how to make them: Make your own Christmas crackers or Plastic-free Christmas crackers (scroll down a bit to get to the instructions). 

You can also buy eco friendly crackers.  This year, my mum surprised us with completely eco friendly crackers from Sainsbury's, which are 100% recyclable and 100% plastic free, as it says on the recyclable and plastic free box. It contains a gift, hat and motto (sadly not a silly joke), however it is made in China, so there are some product miles adding to the carbon emissions - product miles are how much a product travels before going on shelves, including the materials that travel before being made. 

Did you know 30% of extra waste is made during Christmas time every year? That's quite a lot. But anyway, thank you for reading and I hope to see you next Sunday, where it'll be almost Christmas!

Violet

         xxx