Skip to main content Skip to navigation
NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA)
NSW EPA logo
  • Legislation and compliance
  • News and media
NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA)
  • Your environment
    • Back
    • Air
    • Chemicals
    • Climate change
    • Contaminated land
    • Dangerous goods
    • Household building and renovation
    • Illegal dumping
    • Litter
    • Native forestry
    • Noise
    • Onshore gas industry
    • Pesticides
    • Plastics
    • Radiation
    • Recycling and reuse
    • Waste
    • Water
  • Reporting, incidents and recovery programs
    • Back
    • Flood recovery programs
    • Duty to self-report pollution
    • Report pollution
  • Licensing and Regulation
    • Back
    • Legislation and compliance
    • Licensing
    • Public registers
    • Policies and guidelines
    • Do I need a licence?
    • Authorised officers and enforcement officers
  • Working together
    • Back
    • Community engagement
    • Grants
    • Have Your Say – public consultation
    • Our stories
    • Partnerships with the EPA
    • For local government
    • EPA roadshows
    • Engaging with young people
    • Doing business with us
  • About us
    • Back
    • What we do
    • Our organisation
    • Our response to Covid-19
    • Media centre
    • Publications and reports
    • Access to information
    • Careers with us
    • Contact us
  • Legislation and compliance
  • News and media
Dialogue start
    Dialogue end
    Photograph of water in the ocean
    1. Home
    2. Newsletters
    3. EPA Connect newsletter
    4. December 2021
    5. Happy sustainable Christmas
    6. ...
    • Print
    • Mail

    Happy sustainable Christmas!

    Remember to be kind to the environment this Christmas by limiting wrapping and packaging, looking for preloved items for gifts through networks or charity shops, buying local and reducing food waste.

    mesh veggie bag with Love Food Hate Waste brand

    The EPA's Love Food Hate Waste program champions reusable fruit and veggie bags

    Shop smart this Christmas

    It’s easy to replace single-use plastic bags when buying your fresh produce with a reusable veggie bag. Be smart about saving money, food and the planet this Christmas and sign up to the Love Food Hate Waste Food Smart program. It’s free to join and easy to participate, plus you’ll receive a free kit full of fantastic food-saving goodies once the six-week program is completed.

    Food saving tips

    Whether you celebrate Christmas or simply enjoy taking time out during the festive holiday, it can often get busy and chaotic with all the preparations and activities going on which can result in a lot of food being thrown in the bin. Let’s give our food and our planet a little more thought.

    Click here for some great Christmas food saving tips!

    A gift within a gift!

    reusable fabric Christmas wrap bag

    Fabric remnants make great reusable Christmas gift bags

    Use up fabric scraps and ribbons (or source some from the bargain bin) to make a bunch of reusable gift bags for your family to use for Xmas and birthdays. You’ll save on wrapping paper for the rest of your life!

    There’s lots of potential designs, but the basic idea is to cut a rectangle of fabric, fold it over and turn it inside out, sew up the open sides then put a hem on the top.  Attach a bit of ribbon on the outside of the bag 3cm from the top so it can be tied into a bow around the bag to make a neck.

    Make a range of sizes for all imaginable presents. You can make them for your friends for ‘a gift within a gift’ and the environment says ‘thank you’!

    You can also skip the plastic by using scraps to make everlasting festive bunting.

    person placing used mask correctly in bin in park

    Bin your disposable masks but  break the straps first to help our wildlife friends

    Think of the environment when you unmask

    Masks are an important part of protecting ourselves against COVID-19. However, many are not being disposed of properly and get blown away or washed into streams or rivers.

    Of course, re-usable cloth masks are our environment’s best friend but if you need to discard disposable masks when you’re outside home please drop them in the bin or take them home with you if there’s no bin close by. And always remember to break the strap loops before throwing away. That way even if they’re in a bin or landfill, birds and other animals can’t get entangled in the elastic straps of face masks, preventing them from feeding or causing injuries.

    Your actions will help make our waterways and surrounding environment clean and safe for everyone to enjoy!

    Articles in this issue

    • Message from the CEO
    • Landmark environment legislation closes loopholes
    • Plastics Plan and waste strategy forge ahead
    • Snapshot
    • New milestone and children's charity for Return and Earn
    • Eden community celebrates bushfire clean-up
    • Around the Grounds
    • Happy sustainable Christmas!
    Subscribe to EPA Connect newsletter

    For business and industry

    • Public registers
    • Duty to notify pollution incidents
    • Recycling and reuse
    • Waste
    • Legislation and compliance
    • Environment protection licences
    • Guide to licensing
    • Dangerous goods

    For local government

    • Information and resources for local government

    Contact us

    • 131 555
    • Online
    • info@epa.nsw.gov.au
    • EPA Office Locations
    • Accessibility
    • Disclaimer
    • Privacy
    • Copyright
    Find us on
    Please consider the environment before printing.