Why Sustainability Matters During the Christmas Season
We well and truly embrace Christmas, here at our little Welsh farm. We see Christmas as its own season, really, a moment set apart from the rest of winter to lean into softness, indulgence and connection. Our tree is up early, the Menu planned weeks in advance and the presents piled high. So, don’t mistake us for Grinches when we stress the importance of sustainability during the Christmas season.
We have a little saying, an approach to life: ‘vote with your money’. We like to see every pound we spend as vote for the kind of world we’d like to live in. It’s why we shop organically, ordering vegetables from the pioneers at Riverford. It’s why we scour charity shops and Vinted for second hand clothes, hunt for our to-be-read pile in Oxfam and invest in quality homewares that we know will last.
It’s this approach that informs our Christmas shopping, too. Under our tree you’ll find thoughtful gifts, bought with intention. Luxuries from small businesses, treats from local sellers, handmade crafts made with foraged treasure.
While the world may scream at us all to consume, consume and consume some more, over the Christmas season we prefer to vote. To vote loudly, and proudly, for businesses that put people and the planet before pure profit.
There are myriad of ways to be sustainable this Christmas. From refillable candle gifts to green Christmas decoration ideas. Read on for ideas, tips and tricks and to cast your vote for a kinder world this Christmas.
The Beauty of Refillable Candles: Reuse Without Compromise
When it comes to enjoying a more sustainable Christmas, our refillable candles and candle refills are a joyful help.
We hand pour our refillable candles here on our little Welsh farm. We work in small batches, lessening waste, and we use a plant-based, natural wax. Our luxurious packaging, which looks glorious nestled beneath a Christmas tree, is plastic free and recyclable. Every part of our candle production is done with care and attention, crafting refillable candles that you’ll love and that spread festive cheer while voting for a better world.
We work with independent potters snd glassblowers here in the UK to make our keepsake, refillable candle pots. Each one is handmade and beautiful, designed to be kept for a lifetime, reused, refilled and loved for generations to come.
All of our handcrafted candle pots can be easily refilled with our Candle Refills. Simply choose which scent you’d like to try next and drop it in, ready to burn and enjoy.
Refill, Reuse, Rejoice: Your Sustainable Christmas Ritual
Swapping your single use candles for our Refillable Candles has the added benefit of creating a timeless, Christmas, ritual.
Unwrapping your Candle Refill, in the Christmas scent of your choice, and dropping it in your empty GHFS pot, ready for the festive season, is a wonderful moment. This little ritual speaks volumes, showing your intent to rest and relax this Christmas, to mark the season and really savour it.
Whether you choose the same one of our festive Original Scent Recipes every Christmas, or change based on your mood that year, the act of unwrapping your refill and dropping it in your pot will root you in the moment and help shift you into Christmas joy.
Eco-Friendly Christmas Gift Ideas That Inspire Joy
Thinking of gifts for our friends and family that they’ll love, but are still sustainable, has become something of a joyful challenge. From scouring charity shops to find unwanted treasures ready to re-gift, to rolling our sleeves up and getting crafty, the sustainable way might take a touch more creativity but it’s so worth it.
One of our favourite eco-friendly Christmas ideas? Furoshiki wrapping, which is simply wrapping your gifts in scarves or fabric and knotting it to keep it in place. It saves on buying paper and looks truly beautiful. We look out for old scarves in charity shops all year round (which are usually cheaper than rolls of paper anyway!) and build up a stash ready for December.
Of course, our favourite eco-friendly gift idea is one of our Refillable Candles, or one of our gorgeous candle gift sets. Our Christmas Tealight Gift Box, containing one of our artist made tealight holders and a box of our Christmas scented tealights, is a particular favourite and a real crowdpleaser.
Our other failsafe gift idea is a jar of some sort of delicious homemade preserve. You’d be amazed just how much people appreciate a jar, finished with a little bow and hand-written tag. It’s thoughtful, warm and intentional: all the things a great present should be. Our favourite jam recipe so far? Blackberry and Blackcurrant. It’s a classic and we can forage every last berry here on the farm.
Buying A Refillable Candle For Someone Else: How To Get It Right
Scent is such a personal, emotive, thing. It’s why a scented candle can make such a gloriously good gift: it can bring such comfort and joy to someone. Of course that does depend on your finding the right scent, the scent that they’ll connect with.
When you’re shopping our Refillable Candles the easiest way to find the right one for your loved one is to pay attention to our description of how that candle will make them feel. So, rather than just looking for a scent note like vanilla or lavender, instead think about what you’d like to gift that person, emotionally. More calm, for example? Or healing? Perhaps joy, love or comfort? Each of our Original Scent Recipes was written was an express purpose, they are fragrant prescriptions.
So when you’re browsing our selection of Refillable Candles, look for what you’d like your friend or loved one to have more of. What you’d like to say or express to them. Inevitably that will be the scent they connect with and delight in.