Project Sustainable Christmas (Part One)

On chronic spending, Christmas and the blessing/curse of gift giving being your love language

Original Canva template credit to Jerrald Bennett

Over recent years, I have been making a greater effort to shop ethically and locally. In the least threatening way possible, if you are a small business, I will hunt you down. I will find you (Liam Neeson in Taken energy, but sustainable edition) and support you.

Sustainability is incredibly important to me, and I believe the world will truly crumble if we stop caring about where and how we source our products. If anyone reading this has a small business, please let me know in the comments below! As and when money allows, I will try to support your incredible businesses.

Now my line of work surrounds sustainability, it matters to me more than ever. Our gorgeous planet is constantly being shit on from a great height, and I just want to hug it better. In light of this, I set myself a challenge this year:

Every Christmas present I give will either be handmade or ethically and/or locally sourced.

This sounds like it should be simple. It isn’t. Why is that? I have a total of one skill, and sustainable products often come with a juicier price tag. I don’t begrudge this, because I know people are getting paid fairly for their work, and I am doing my part in keeping someone’s business going. However, my recent stint of unemployment is making this challenging. Project Sustainable Christmas is also designed to make me confront my overspending, because I will do so massively at Christmas. It forces me to sit down and plan everything out.

This is part one, where I will outline my mission and offer some ideas of things you might be able to make yourself, or buy from small businesses. The lists below are made with creativity and sustainbility in mind. It also, equally as importantly, is designed by someone who knows all too well how tight money can get. Part two will be uploaded nearer to Christmas, and will be showing you my gifts I have bought and/or created for my loved ones.

So! Without further ado! My skill I can offer! Drumroll please.

I can knit.

Not well, but I can knit. I have been knitting for five years now, but I would still class myself as an amateur. I have made many blankets, scarves, wrist-warmers and a few jumpers. I want to improve, and that will be one of my resolutions for 2026. I tend to forget knitting exists between March - September, and only pick up my needles in the colder months. Those needles are about to be worked overtime. Nearly everyone in my life is going to be the recipient of a knitted good. You’re welcome in advance.

I have decided to launch this series early, so that if anyone is inspired by Project Sustainable Christmas, they can join in. In order to get organised for such a mission, I produced a list on my notes app (where all the best writerly ideas start, if I may say so myself). Also, I have changed the names for anonymity purposes. I’ve always wanted to say that; I can confirm writing it made me feel like a spy on a top secret mission. I’ve altered the names not because I’m famous, but because some of these people are subscribed to my Substack.

The ticked circles mean that I have already sourced or made the gifts. As you can see, I am about half way through. The reason I am already half-way through at the beginning of November is because gift giving - and in particular, Christmas - is my magnum opus. It is a personal point of pride. I take it seriously.

Gift giving is one of my love languages, which is both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because it means if you receive a gift from me, you can guarantee I have agonised over what to get you. A curse because I am a perfectionist, and will stop at nothing to find you The Gift. It gets expensive.

I feel safe in explaining Bill’s list as he doesn’t follow this Substack. Bill is my brother, and we always get each other gag gifts. This year, I am buying him toilet roll. Both humorous and actually practical. Also, Pud is our family cat. I will be getting him a framed picture of the precious baby.

My Mum follows this account, but she knows exactly what she is getting for Christmas as she is a VERY particular woman. She picked a knitted jumper, if anyone is curious. Love you, Mum! I know you’re reading this!

Don’t ask me why, when faced with coming up with a random selection of names, I picked this ensemble. I don’t even know anyone called Susan or Bill. I have also blocked out some more personal details, so if things look a bit odd, that’s why.

You can observe two key things here:

1. I am making an army of fingerless gloves. I bought some adorable buttons to sew onto them, which is making me even more excited about their construction.

2. I am a dark mode enthusiast.

Let’s get cracking with the list.

Charity Shops are the Key:

So far, I have sourced some of the things which I can’t (yet!) make, such as soaps and washi-tape from the gift sections of charity soaps. These ones in particular, I bought from Oxfam. For those not familiar with Oxfam’s charity shops, aside from second-hand things, they offer a beautiful selection of new, unused products, specifically inspired by their mission. For instance, they make these absolutely INSANE scrunchies made from material from leftover saris. I love what they do, and always try to buy gifts from there when I can. My money is actively doing good, and I am making the person I am giving the gift to happy.

Even the toilet roll was bought from that same section of Oxfam; it was one of those individually wrapped Who Gives a Crap rolls. I am not cutting any corners on this challenge!

This bookmark is also made from a recycled sari! How incredible is this! It’s £4. Credit: Oxfam website.

Many other charity shops offer their own version of a ‘gift shop’; I know that Cancer Research UK also offer a beautiful range. Additionally, don’t underestimate animal charity gift shops. The RSPCA has its own range of clothing, which supports animals and you can look as cool as a cucumber. Win-win.

Where to find ethically made clothing:

• Lucy & Yak - a sustainable clothing business that takes pride in its ethics. It is known for its inclusivity, wide range of sizes and bold prints.

• Community Clothing - this is the place where I will be buying GOOD ASS QUALITY socks from for my brother. They are a UK business who don’t engage with the constant releasing with new clothes. They believe that clothes should be well-made and as affordable as possible. I can’t afford their larger pieces but will potentially treat myself to their socks. A pair of socks, made from 90% cotton, cost £9.50.

• Rewild Swimwear - this brand is quite pricy, but is on my dream list of swimwear. Each sale supports marine conservation work, which we love to hear.

• Passenger - every order means a tree gets planted! It makes you feel better about spending that money.

My dream swimsuit - photo courtesy of Rewild Swimwear

Explore your local town:

What business looks homegrown? Talk to the shop-keepers. What’s their story? That’s how I got my latest job at a refill shop. This particular shop has been family-run for fifty years, and they have devoted customers who keep them going. That’s the kind of place I want to support and spend my money in.

A recent candle business opened up in my town, and I made it my mission to go and talk to them. They were lovely people, and although I couldn’t afford anything expensive, I purchased a £3 wax melt for my sister-in-law. When they heard it was for a gift, they wrapped it to perfection. It’s the kind of care you don’t get anywhere else.

Photo by Jason Ortego on Unsplash

Where to find ethically made toiletries and cosmetics:

• LUSH - the classic is a classic for good reason. They have most recently impressed me with their shutting down of trade in support of Gaza, so I will happily continue shopping there after that.

• Love to b - a predominantly skincare-based small business, that was created in a mother’s attempt to cure her daughter’s eczema. Their products smell divine.

• Faith in Nature - a sustainable brand who creates shampoos, conditioners, body washes and hand soaps. They are natural, vegan and cruelty-free.

  

  Photo credit to LUSH

Knitting patterns:

I only feel qualified to link knitting patterns, so I’m sorry to all of my fellow crafters of other disciplines! I hope this list can be of some use.

• Firstly, I can’t go any further without providing the link to the free pattern I use to create my fingerless gloves. All credits go to Noble Knits: https://blog.nobleknits.com/blog/fingerless-mitts-flat-knitting

• I made my first knitted jumper with this free tutorial! It’s great, go and give it some love:

• Etsy has a wealth of knitting patterns for all abilities, so I highly recommend trawling through it. Make sure you’re purchasing from real people who have spent time creating patterns, and not those evil resellers who steal them.

  Pattern creators who I love and have used are Lauren Aston Designs, KnitFolkCo and ThatCraftyStitchUK.

• Scarf making is the best! I just cast on a random number of stitches on a random needle size, and see how it looks.

• This free beanie: https://www.lovecrafts.com/en-gb/p/the-easy-beanie-knitting-pattern-by-the-knit-mix

• A free pattern to make the most adorable fruity friends you have ever seen: https://www.lovecrafts.com/en-gb/p/fruity-friends-free-toy-knitting-pattern-for-kids-in-paintbox-yarns-simply-dk

• This free pattern for a gorgeous bubble cardigan: https://www.lovecrafts.com/en-gb/p/bubble-stitch-cardigan-free-knitting-pattern-for-women-cardigan-knitting-pattern-in-paintbox-yarns-simply-super-chunky

Photo by Margarida Afonso on Unsplash

Gifts are such incredibly personal things, that this list can never be more than a guide. Having said that, I hope this can get your brain juices flowing! Let me know if you are doing a similar project this Christmas, if you happen to celebrate the holiday.

Part two will be out in December - I look forward to seeing you then!

All my love,

Emma