The best plastic-free Christmas decorations

From bunting to wooden decorations, here are loads of ways to stay plastic-free this festive season.

Plastic-free Christmas wrapping

by Sophie Knight |
Updated on

Christmas is coming! No really, it is. But this year, we want to do things a bit differently.

We don’t want our Christmas tree covered in plastic – no, we all want to be more environmentally friendly, starting with our decorations.

Traditionally the Christmas tree has been the place plastic ornaments come to die, in all shapes and sizes, but this year we’re more ecologically aware and we’re not buying any more plastic stuff that comes out of the loft once a year.

Instead, we’ve been searching for the best plastic-free Christmas decorations. Take a look at our shortlist and just imagine how beautiful your Christmas tree will look this year.

Plastic-free Christmas decorations

Every home needs a wooden Nutcracker toy solider at Christmas! This gold design will go with every colour scheme.

Wooden Gingerbread Bunting
Price: £20.62

Personally, we'd prefer to just eat some gingerbread, but you could bake that after you've hung this bunting around the house.

A cute tabletop decoration, you could have this on your dinner table, or, if you want to extend Christmas to your office, take it to work and cheer up your desk.

Go all-out and hang these paper lanterns around the house for a real Christmas Wonderland.

Docrafts Create Christmas 3cm Snowflakes Mixed Wooden Shapes (45 pieces)
Price: £15.85

You could either leave these as they come for a rustic, Scandi look, or you could get crafty and paint them yourself. Might be a fun activity to get the kids to help with.

Brown Paper
Price: £9.99

Lastly, wrap all your presents in brown paper this year. Don't buy endless rolls of NOT-RECYCLABLE brightly coloured wrapping paper, instead just buy some brown paper. You can personalise it if you want, or just use some pretty ribbons with it.

If you have children, then you know how much plastic tat you can end up with. Save your Christmas tree from more plastic with these fun knitted dinosaur decorations; you can choose from Stegosaurus, Pterodactyl, Diplodocus and Triceratops among many others (including a Dodo).

As rustic as it gets, this twiggy Christmas tree doesn't need any plastic stuff all over it. Made from driftwood with a copper star on the top, it's as Scandi as it gets.

Shun a plastic artificial tree and invest in an oak version - this will last years and years. Leave it natural for a Scandi look, or hang plastic-free decorations from the branches. The smaller size, for £189, stands 95cm tall; the larger size stands 145cm and costs £309.

A decoration for your table - and an interactive way to keep the kids entertained while you eat Christmas dinner. Just remind them not to colour in your normal tablecloth. Created by graphic designer and mum of two, Kate Edmunds, who understood the need to engage children while you're waiting for meals to be served. It's big too, measuring 1270 x 952mm.

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Sophie Knight is Editor of WhatsTheBest and Contributing Editor for Mother&Baby, Closer, Heat, Yours and Empire websites.

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