6 tips for a sustainable Advent season

1. make your own forest candles from leftover wax

Old candle stubs from the Advent wreath or Christmas tree used to end up in my rubbish bin. Until I read about this great upcycling idea from Transa salesman Fabian: Simply make new candles from leftover candles.

And not just any candles, no, real forest scented candles. You don't need much for your new candle happiness: a fireplace and, in addition to the leftover wax, an old tin can, wicks, a few pine needles and enamel cups.

Melt the leftover wax in the old tin can over the fire and pour it into the enamel cup, fix the wick and you're done. No witchcraft and great fun for children of all ages. Click here to go directly to Fabian's perfect instructions.

2. long live the advent wreath

A lavish arrangement with lots of fir greenery, four thick candles, lots of hearts, stars, small Christmas baubles, cinnamon sticks and dried orange slices. As beautiful as the Christmas wreaths bought at the Christmas market are: They are usually so heavily glued or woven with wire that they end up in one piece in the rubbish bag after Christmas.

That doesn't have to be the case. There are long-lasting alternatives that also look good. I, for example, have converted a beautiful candlestick with four candles into an Advent wreath, which I decorate every year as the mood takes me. My son has also taken a liking to it and sometimes contributes something from his nursery: A few wooden animals for the winter forest or the Playmobil Santichlaus, who whizzes across the snowy landscape made of cotton wool on his sledge.

An Advent wreath like this can be reused and redesigned every year. The candlestick can also be decorated appropriately all year round and used as a seasonal ritual with the children.

Another lovely alternative that can be recycled every year are four lanterns with the numbers one to four, which are lit one by one on the Sundays before Christmas.

Of course, you can also make a recyclable Advent wreath yourself, for example together with the children on a rainy autumn day. For example, tin cans of different sizes can be labelled with numbers and filled with candles and decorations.

Rethink your classic Advent wreath this year and get creative. You'll see: It's fun!

3. make natural cosmetics from medicinal plants and give them as gifts

Give a piece of nature as a gift and or refresh your knowledge of medicinal plants. In beautiful Stetten in the canton of Aargau, Eva Winkler imparts ancient herbal knowledge. In her workshops, she shows you how to make your own natural cosmetics.

I have been a big fan of the natural cosmetics that Mrs Winkler makes from fresh or dried plants from her biodiverse garden or from wild collections for several years now. The basic ingredients of the products are oil extracts in rapeseed or sunflower oil, beeswax, lanolin, hydrolates with or without essential oils and free from any chemicals.

In the meantime, my whole family is delighted with the delicately scented and nourishing face and body creams, ointments, balms and herbal salts. The herbalist also produces oils, tea and incense blends as well as scented sachets in coloured raw silk.

Their workshops and products are wonderful and sustainable gift ideas for Christmas. The used jars can be returned for refilling. The products can be ordered directly from Mrs Winkler at www.wirona.ch.

4. creative and effective: homemade wrapping paper

Hand on heart: Even if we sincerely intend not to be wasteful with the wrapping paper and want to use it again after unwrapping: When the children tear open their parcels full of euphoria, there is usually not much left of the expensive paper with the beautiful designs.

So why not save money and resources and make your own wrapping paper? There are usually still a few newspapers, magazines or calendars in the waste paper that offer suitable motifs.

Alternatively, you can decorate the waste paper yourself: Make stamps from potatoes, use pieces of newspaper to conjure up simple Christmas motifs on the parcel or use Gutzi moulds as stencils to draw stars, Christmas trees and hearts on it. A few fir branches, pine cones or tree nuts can also quickly turn a gift into something special.

No more confusion

Incidentally, discarded tea towels are also ideal as packaging material and can of course also be decorated to your heart's content.

This way, children can also personalise the parcels they give as gifts. And by the way, it's much easier to tell all the presents apart afterwards and know exactly that the stamped Christmas trees are for their godfather and the cut-out Christmas baubles are for their grandma.

5. oh slatted tree, oh slatted tree...

It's been three years since we last bought a Christmas tree for Christmas. A beautiful specimen, not too big, not too small - but quite expensive, I thought. Especially as the tree was so needled after just one week that we couldn't even keep up with the sweeping and the needle track reached the street when we pulled the skeleton out of the house another week later.

Does it have to be, I asked myself. For such a short time? And - what would be the alternatives?
No trees at all: No!
A specimen of art: Styless
A tree planted in a tub that grows year after year: where to put it for the remaining 50 weeks?

Once my husband's DIY ambitions were awakened, he was quickly convinced.

That's when I remembered the words of a friend: «By the way, we now have a slatted tree that we made ourselves,» she had once proudly told me during Advent. Cool - but not for us, I thought at the time.

Why not?

I started to do some research and came across building instructions including material specifications on the website of a well-known DIY chain. Not that complicated, I thought. Admittedly for my husband, not for me. And he was quickly convinced - once his DIY ambition was awakened.

To put it bluntly: you need a lot of wood to make a tree about 1.80 to 2 metres tall. And of course you can't get it for free. But we've now put the tree up for the third time, sustainably and without annoying needles. The children have quickly got used to it. The main thing is that it can be decorated.

For the remaining weeks, the slatted tree waits for its next use in the cellar to save space.

6. finally time to muck out

The amount of appliances and objects that accumulate in a family is madness. At the end of the year, many people automatically feel the urge to bring more lightness and order into the household. This is also the case for me. Just looking at my wardrobe makes me shudder every time.

I haven't worn at least a third of the clothes for more than a year. And if you want to believe the Japanese prophet of tidiness Marie Kondo, that means getting rid of them.

Just like Cinderella: the good clothes in the potty, the bad ones in the jar.

Regular mucking out is also worthwhile for children. After all, they are constantly outgrowing their clothes.

So instead of piling up new Klimbin during the Advent season, how about a cool tidy-up? Pop in your favourite songs, turn up the speakers and start sorting out. Just like Cinderella: put the good, still-worn clothes in the potty and the bad ones in the jar.

Whoever has the biggest pile for the clothes collection wins. It's fun for children too.

An even more sustainable alternative to collecting clothes would be a clothes swap. Do you have neighbours who would be interested in such a swap? Add coffee and cake and you have the perfect Advent moment.