Want to spend less, waste less and stress less this Christmas? Use these four Rs to dial down the crazy and rethink your Christmas.  

Rejoice 

The festive season is made for rejoicing, but plenty of food and drink can mean plenty of waste. Make a list (and check it twice) before you shop to avoid buying too much. Make the most of your Christmas cooking by having a Plan B for any leftovers. When food ends up in landfill it breaks down releasing harmful greenhouse gases. 

For those big family meals, choose to reuse by borrowing extra cutlery and crockery from a neighbour or buying from a reuse shop— you can donate them back again so the cycle continues.

Reduce 

Shop less and stress less by opting to buy a quality gift instead of lots of throw away stuff.

Give your loved ones something different with an experience or some expertise. From concert tickets to hiring an expert to do the jobs your loved ones can't, think outside the gift wrapped box this Christmas. 

Bake or make something special, and check out the Wānaka Waste Free Shopping Guide at plasticfreewanaka.co.nz for tips on packaging-free shopping.

Reuse

Shopping second-hand first costs less — for you and the planet. Apply some creative flair to upcycling or re-designing something pre-loved, and re-gift any presents that you won't use. 

Wrap gifts in old paper packaging, kids' drawings, magazines, newspaper or try Furoshiki, the Japanese art of wrapping in fabric.

Decorate your tree with kids crafts, Christmas cards and nature walk finds. Some of it might look like something the cat dragged in, but it tells a pretty sweet story.

Recycle 

Lots of people + lots of parties = lots and lots of recycling. Wastebusters deals with three to four times the usual amount of recycling after Christmas. They sort it all by hand to ensure high quality, uncontaminated recycling. So help out the awesome crew by making sure bottles and containers are free of food residue and give them a quick rinse before dropping them off. Wastebusters accept plastics 1, 2 and 5 plus glass bottles and glass jars, cans, paper and cardboard for recycling. There is a charge of $3 per crate (around 60L) to cover the cost of recycling. 

You can shop, drop and recycle with Wastebusters every day this summer, (except Christmas Day when all our staff will be rejoicing with their friends and families).