Today, up and down the UK are people are preparing to wear their fantastic festive jumpers for Save the Children’s Christmas Jumper Day event, with many helping to raise money with fundraisers and events.
Christmas jumpers have become big business the last few years, but unfortunately it's not all positive. In fact, many Christmas jumpers which are sold in the UK contain large amounts of plastic, many of which are unrecyclable, with so many choosing to purchase a new jumper each year, you can see how this might become a problem.
Here are a few ways to tackle the issue!
Make Your Own!
With so many of us having old clothes laying around, what better use than to turn them in to a brand new Christmas jumper? Simply select as many or as little elements that you want and start cutting! One of the benefits of this method is that it doesn't matter how refined your final jumper looks, in fact, the worse it looks the funnier it will be!
You can get the kids involved with crafts too, try gluing and sewing different cut-outs to different garments to create interesting and wacky designs! Or if you want to you can put some love and attention in to a hand knitted Christmas jumper.
If you've got some spare Christmas decorations, why not add them to your jumper to give a 3D element? Nothing says Christmas more than a shiny pair of baubles glued to a wool jumper!
Organise a Jumper Swap
Instead of buying a new jumper, try swapping with some friends, it's a great opportunity to try a new design, and if it doesn't fit right, that just adds to the wackiness!
One fun thing to do is to agree a budget with friends, and see who can buy the most hideous looking Christmas jumper from a charity shop. Agree to all swap at the end, you might be surprised with what you end up with! You get a fun surprise whilst also helping a good cause!
If All Else Fails...
Keep hold of your current Christmas jumper, and keep re-using it until it's worn out. The longer you can keep it away from landfill the better. Even better still, if your Christmas jumper is made from an organic material such as wool or cotton, you can compost it! It's as easy as breaking it down as small as you can, and adding it to your compost pile.
For all your Christmas needs, check out our Christmas section!
