3 Ways To Make Christmas (Positively) Different this Year

2020 has been a tough year – there is no doubt about that. Sadly, this Christmas is going to be different for many families around the world who won’t be able to gather all their relatives together due to the risk of spreading COVID-19.

Although the coronavirus vaccine will start to be distributed soon, we are in for a tough Christmas and winter in the meantime.

But that presents us with an opportunity to find positivity elsewhere. Perhaps to have a positively different Christmas in 2020.

Following such a challenging year, what can we do this festive season to positively impact our communities and our planet? We’ve thought hard about this subject and have come up with 3 ways to make Christmas (positively) different this year. 

Here goes!

1. Buy a living Christmas tree and be more eco-conscious about the decorations.

The two most common ways of getting a Christmas tree are buying a chopped down tree or buying a fake one.

A real tree, recycled properly, can have negligible emissions, according to the Guardian. However, many trees end up on landfill after the end of the Christmas period, and can each release up to 16kg of carbon as they decompose. And that’s before you’ve considered the emissions from transporting the tree in the first place.

Meanwhile, fake trees are made of plastic. A 6.5ft plastic tree has a carbon footprint of about 40kg. If you already have one, your best bet is to keep it for as long as possible.

But there is a third option: a potted tree. These living plants come rooted in soil and will last for as long as you take care of them. After the end of the festive period, you can put the tree outside and even plant it if you have space. 

That means you can reuse the same living tree year after year, with a carbon footprint of zero or possibly even negative! 

Buying a living tree is an amazing way to look after the planet this Christmas.

Also, you can decorate it by recycling things you have at home, like newspaper, wood pieces and branches. You can even do some arts and crafts with kids! They love to collaborate. With the special holiday crafting playlist on kiddZtube, they can watch a lot of videos to learn how to do simple ornaments, by themselves or with a little bit of your help.

2. Be conscious with present buying.

It is easy to fill stockings with stuff that your kids don’t really need. 

That includes plastic toys that have a pretty short shelf life and end up being given away – or, much worse, thrown away – within months.

However, there are plenty of gifts out there made from more sustainable materials. Rather than buying a cheap plastic or electronic gizmo, consider a toy that is more useful and will last longer.

Digital products can also be a great present – a kiddZtube subscription, for example – as they have a minuscule impact on the environment compared to mass-produced toys.

A kiddZtube subscription is a wonderful gift to kids, but this season it comes even better. Until the end of the year, we will release a total of ten new animation series. We are talking about more than 600 safe and educational videos and super fun content!

3. Donate to charity as a gift.

We all love giving and receiving presents. But equally, we can all probably admit we give and receive a few too many!

A great present idea for Christmas 2020 is to donate some money on behalf of the person you are giving to.

It’s a great way to make a positive difference. You can make it personal by choosing a cause that your friend or relative feels strongly about. For an animal lover, for example, you could donate to WWF.

Parents can also use Christmas time to educate their children about being grateful and understanding their good fortune. You could even take the opportunity to go over all of the kids toys and choose some to donate to kids’ charities.

For the lucky ones among us, Christmas is a wonderful time of year. But we shouldn’t forget that it can be very hard, and very lonely, for the less fortunate in society. That’s important for our kids to learn!

There you have it! 3 ways to make Christmas (positively) different this year! Thanks for reading!