I’ll be honest with you: at home we were counting the days to to put up our Christmas decorations and playing those cheesy christmas pop songs!
There is really something magical about Christmas and even if we don’t celebrate the religious aspect of it, the winter holidays are truly times for joy, celebration, and togetherness.
However, especially those days of consumerism, sales and trends, Christmas can also be a time of excessive consumption and waste.
Themed mugs, plastic decorations, fake Christmas trees, a billion different jumpers, perfumes, toys, etc.
Christmas could easily turn in a disaster for our planet and for our pockets.
Is it possible to have a more intentional, mindful and sustainable winter celebration in our beloved London?
Of course it is.
These are few of our best experiences to save money while nurturing our souls, families, friends and the environment:
1. Gift an experience!
“Oh no, not another hat!”
I have said this sentence many times! Every Christmas I used to receive essentially the same objects: pyjamas, hats, socks, jumpers.
Two months later, they were living in the drawer and to sadly only come out the following Christmas, just in time to be replaced by next ones.
Most gifted object are really not needed and they end up creating clutter and/or being disposed and contribute to environmental pollution. Objects are not forever.
So, instead of buying material gifts that will just end up in landfill, consider giving the gift of experience.
This could be a voucher for a cooking class, a ticket to a theatre show, or a donation to a charity in their name.
Shared memories last for a lifetime, and cannot be lost.
So, go and plan an experience to share with your loved ones!
2. Explore a Christmas market!
If you really need to buy that winter decoration, then local Christmas markets are the perfect place. Not only do they often sell handmade and tailored products, made with intentionality and with care for the environment, but these markets are also a great way to support local businesses.
We have explored a bunch of South London markets and our favourites are “Southbank Centre Winter Market“, “Brixton Market” and “Greenwich Christmas Market”.
They are all with free admission and lots to see! Stroll through the lights and take in some sights together.
The markets are a perfect match if you, like us, go just for the experience without buying objects, as they always provide great local food, music, and amazing winter vibes!
For more on the South London Christmas Market, you can follow this amazing guide provided by the South London Club.
3. Take in a movie together at the cinema!
Christmas movies are a great classic and we have been watching a few in the cosiness of our home.
But isn’t even more magical to wrap up in warm clothes, buy some popcorn and immerse ourselves in an actual cinema?
What a great experience that is! And it makes it a perfect sustainable winter gift!
A cinema ticket, carefully tucked inside a festive envelope, is more than a ticket to a film; it’s an invitation to laughter, tears, and unforgettable moments.
Whether it’s a timeless classic, a blockbuster hit, or an indie gem, this thoughtful gesture allows your loved ones to immerse themselves in a world of storytelling, where the memories linger long after the credits roll.
Yes, yes, I can see you thinking that cinemas are not really low cost.
Well, if you live in South London, they are!
Peckhamplex in Peckham and Odeon in Streatham, Surrey Quays, Wimbledon and Greenwich, for example, offer films for £6 and under!
They are cute, old school, local cinemas which are not just low budget, but also super cosy (we managed to bring in our own food too!)
If you haven’t been yet, this is the season.
4. Host an event!
If you know us by now, you know that we truly love two things: food and people.
There is nothing more magical than spending time with your loved ones around the table eating, drinking, laughing and telling stories.
Yes, we don’t really need a festivity to invite people over, but we take any excuse to do so.
Hosting an event is a great way to celebrate the winter season without spending an enormous amount of money eating out, and also gives the chance to try some low-cost, low-waste recipes (you will find a few on our blog).
You can also try to organize a potluck!
Make a few main dishes, and invite each of your friends to bring a dish!
And what about picking a theme?
Choose a fun theme to add the festivity of your holiday dinner!
You can also create mementos and send your guests home with something to remember the night, like a Polaroid picture or a personalised placecard!
Food and social makes a long lasting gift for the memories.
5. D.I.Y.
Not sold on gifting an experience? Wanting to show up with something tangible?
Well, then the most sustainable thing you can do is to create something with your own two hands!
You can gift some homemade treats for example.
Since the holidays are the time for indulgence, do make use of the time off, and learn to make something yummy to bring to that friend or family dinner.
Or if you are hosting, the end of the year is the perfect time to reinvent your space, and with DIY methods, you can do so on a budget!
You can still create a festive atmosphere at home without using excessive amounts of plastic and disposable items.
Re-use decorations from previous years, or make your own from natural materials.
And when it comes to wrapping paper, opt for reusable or recyclable alternatives.
If you really feel creative, you can even try to craft some Christmas decorations to gift.
The internet is full of ideas and tutorials. Find one and start moving your hands!
6. Donate your time
If you are looking to spend zero pennies but still gift something valuable, you can donate your time.
Volunteer at a local charity, donate food to a food bank, or simply smile and say hello to your neighbours.
South London is full of charities and food banks you can volunteer or donate, and the homeless people are struggling in winter more than ever (here for a list of London’s food banks)
Small acts of kindness can make a big difference.
This Winter Holiday, donate experiences, memories, handcrafts or your time instead of objects.
When I started my sustainable journey, the first action I focussed on was trying to shop zero waste.
I was fully committed to buying as little packaging as possible.
I discovered a couple of bulk stores, zero waste shops and local markets around me and only shopped at those places.
I became obsessed with it.
Problem was, they were not always near me, and often reachable only by at least half an hour bus.
But I was adamant about either shopping there or not at all.
Sometimes, this meant that I was either not eating certain foods for weeks because they were not available plastic-free in the shops near me, or I would wait ages for restocking, for example on coffee, because I only wanted to buy it zero waste.
That became unsustainable.
And more expensive too.
My housemates started complaining that our house couldn’t be dependent on if we had the time to shop zero waste or not.
Days with no coffee or no pasta hit us.
So, upon reflection, I decided to change.
I reflected on balance and on the real meaning of sustainability.
I asked myself: is zero waste sustainable for my soul and the people around me?
The answer was, clearly, no.
I began a journey of discovery. A journey to find balance.
The balance between not dropping my values of buying the least amount of packaging and the essential needs of my household and me.
The truth was, the prospect of waiting weeks without being able to make my morning coffee with my Italian percolator (we call it Moka) was really not sustainable for my mind.
And nor could sustain the sanity of my housemates.
The journey leads to discovery, and discovery leads to knowledge.
I discovered that the key is knowing where to shop for what, because there is always an alternative to what is around.
And by around I mean even sometimes at the corner shop or the Tesco down the road.
Sure, those places also have a ludicrous amount of unnecessary plastic, but this is the point. I knew that I didn’t need to buy lemons in plastic net in a shop because I explored enough to know that the shop next to it had lemons without plastic.
And this shop hopping started saving me money.
Why should I buy something at this corner store if I know that the next one sells it for less?
So, if I have to give you the most sustainable tip, here is it: know the shops near you and visit them all by buying what is cheaper and more sustainable in each shop.
Sustainability is really about learning about your community, what it has to offer and how you can make your life easier by knowing it.
I discovered that sustainability is to find your most sustainable way.
There isn’t a most sustainable way.
If everything that is plastic would cost double, would this be sustainable? For many people, it would not.
But the alternative is not to give up, or even worse, not try, the alternative is to find a way that includes both goals of living as sustainably as possible, the least stressful life as possible and as much financially doable as possible.
And it’s okay to start small, it’s okay to buy some plastic every now and then, with no guilt because that doesn’t make us horrible, or hypocritical or unsustainable.
It is a journey, and a journey is never linear.
Sustainability is embracing imperfection, embracing that it’s always a journey, that the more we try, the more we know, and the more we will learn how to sustain ourselves with peace and intention.
Think you know Orzo? Think twice: this classic italian autumn recipe use barley, pumpkin, leek, rosemary and the “risotto technique” to warm up your soul, feel cozy and be respectfully sustainable.
Follow our guide on how to make it for under 5 pounds, how to buy the ingredients with no package and how to dispose them after use.
We have been cooking a lot of Pumpkin in our house this October.
To be fair, we use pumpkin all year around, but during autumn it feels like we are almost forced to use it.
There is pumpkin everywhere, and it’s cheap!
One of our favourite recipe to do with pumpkin is to combine with barley and the “risotto technique”, to produce what we in italy (or is it just me?) call “Orzotto”, a Barley Risotto.
Wait a minute, you mean Orzo the type of pasta? How can you make risotto with pasta?
Well, the truth is, what here in the U.K. is called Orzo (and is even sold by famous Italian brands as such), is not called Orzo in my native country!
That kind of pasta is called Risoni and, I am sorry guys, it is only sold as “orzo” for you foreigners.
In my country, we call “Orzo” the cereal Barley, and we love it. And yes, it can be cooked as risotto.
It is a very ancient grain, consumed in Eurasia since thousands of years ago and is a very familiar product for Italian cuisine. It also contains around 24% proteins, making it a very good product if you are trying to have a diet with more protein intake.
Most supermarket sell Pearl Barley, where the cereal has been processed to remove the bran and the outer layers (full of fibres!).
I have to say, Barley for cooking is not easy to find in London plastic free.
The only supermarket big chain where we found it was M&S, where it cost 75 p for 500g (cheaper than plastic alternatives from Tesco and Asda!)
So we got plastic free barley, a pumpkin, a leek (you guys probably know by now how much I love leek), add a touch of Mediterranean memories using Rosemary and off we go, ready to cook this typical, traditional Italian Autumn recipe, Pumpkin Orzotto!
The recipe
80/100 g of barley per person
1 Leek
1 medium pumpkin or butternut squash
Vegetable cube
Dry rosemary
Salt
Pepper
Olive oil
How to get the ingredients low waste/low budget
As far as I can tell, but please comment below if you find otherwise, barley without plastic can be only bought at M&S. In other chain supermarket, it is often in non recyclable bag. If your local zero waste sell it loose, even better!
Pumpkin and Leek can be easily found with no plastic. Make sure to buy dry rosemary in glass jar (yes, you can use fresh rosemary if you are growing some, just make sure you add less as it can be very intense).
We got our products in the M&S in Clapham Junction, which has a very good selection of plastic free and loose products. Here are the prices
Price breakdown (2 servings)
(200g) Pearl Barley £0.30 (0.75p x 500 g)
(1x) Leek £ 0.60
(1x) Butternut Squash £1 (but vary depending on season)
(1x) Vegetable cube £0.09 (0.90 x 10 cubes)
(1 table spoon) Dried Rosemary 0.3 £ (£3.74 x 22g)
A glass of olive oil (price depending on shop and brand)
Legend: Orange: recyclable Green: zero waste if bought loose Blue: bought in bulk to reuse
Total cost: £ 2.80 for two people!
Final wastage: 1 recyclable paper bag + 1 cube foil (unfortunately not recyclable)
Now let’s cook!
Step 1.
Remove the skin of the pumpkin, the seeds and chop the rest in squares, the smaller the better, as they will cook faster
Step 2.
Slice the leek, using the usual technique of first slicing the entire stem in two, and then slice each half in little half circles. You can cut the whole leek or, for a softer and faster version, only use the lighter part of the stem.
Step 3.
In a pan add a little glass (or espresso cup) of olive oil and turn the heat on medium.
Step 4.
When the oil is ready (you can pilot by adding a little leek cut), add both the pumpkin and the leek, and stir gently. Now you can add a little bit of water so that the steam will cook the vegetables faster.
Step 5.
Cover the pan, turn the gas to low/medium and let the steam cook the vegetables until they are soft. Check every now and then with a fork to see how are they doing.
Step 6.
Once soft, remove from fire and, using a food processor or blender, blend the vegetable into a thick cream. You can add salt and pepper here if you would like to and always taste with a little spoon as you cook along, that is one of the secrets of home cooking! 😉
Let the cream sit.
Step 7.
Add some oil to a tall-ish pot, turn on medium heat and pour in some barley.
Step8.
Now we need to toast the barley, making it golden, as you would do for normal risotto. To do so, we will make sure to stir gently so that it doesn’t stick to the pot and goldens homogenously.
Step 9.
Once golden, add a full cup of boiling water and the vegetable dice/stock. Stir to blend the stock with the water if needed
Step 10.
Add another cup of hot water and start stirring every 3-4 minutes.
Step 11.
Once most of the water has evaporated (but the mix should still be moist), add the pumpkin and leek cream
Step 12.
Add the rosemary (as much as you may like rosemary, the more you add, the less you will taste the pumpkin) and stir to mix the ingredients into an homogenous mix.
Step 13.
Stir the orzotto for around 10 minutes, you can add more stock if you see that is drying out too much
Step 14.
Once it’s done, it should really look like a risotto. Always taste to see if the grains have cooked well. You can add some butter if you want to make it creamier (we call the process of adding butter at the end “mantecare”), but you don’t have to and if done well you won’t even need to.
Step 15.
Once ready, prepare a plate and serve. You can add some additional rosemary, pepper or Parmigiano, if you like. Enjoy this warm, autumn Italian classic!
How to dispose after cooking
Pumpkin and leek can be bought loose, so no waste!
The only paper Barley we found that is in a paper bag is from M&S (well done you guys!) and can be recyclable.
The stock cube and butter peel are not recyclable, but there are quite few alternatives that are in recyclable plastic boxes, although a bit more pricey.
As always, for the best low waste result, buy at zero waste shop or market, make the stock yourself and use what you are most comfortable with!
Did you know that you can make a lunch meal for two at M&S for under £5?
Roast chicken is a staple meal in most households, but we’re going to jazz it up for a deviation from your standard weeknight meal! We’ll show you how to make a roast chicken marinade that is bursting with flavour from fresh ingredients, as well as a vibrant chimichurri to top your roast chicken and veggies, all from scratch.
This recipe from start to finish takes about 1 hour and 15 minutes, not including the additional time needed to marinate. In a pinch, I’d recommend making the marinade first, and allowing your chicken to soak in this mixture while you finish the rest of your prep, which will take between 15-20 minutes.
For this recipe, we’re going to go to M&S to take advantage of their PriceLock deal currently available, featuring 3 chicken legs for £1.50.
You can use the veggies of your choice to roast (we used carrots and potatoes to keep it simple), and you can purchase them at any market. You’ll also need a few herbs and spices for the marinade and chimichurri. We were able to find all of them at our local M&S, but we’ll include a few subs below in case you can’t find them. At Southstainable, we’re all about using what you have and making the most of it!
Ingredients:
½ white onion 1 ½ shallot 3 green onions ½ red pepper ½ green pepper 4 cloves of garlic Salt Pepper Vinegar (red wine or apple cider) Basil Thyme Oregano Cilantro (coriander) 3 chicken legs 3-4 potatoes 3-4 carrots
You can substitute:
red wine vinegar for apple cider vinegar olive oil for butter, avocado oil, or vegetable oil shallot for red onions red pepper for jalapeno, or red pepper flakes coriander for parsley
Most of these ingredients will be affordable and plastic-free, however the chicken, despite being sustainable financially, does unfortunately come in plastic, however we can repurpose them in a number of ways, as containers for future marinades, fridge organizers, and even containers to purchase meat in to avoid future use of plastic. Remember that our goal at Southstainable is not to deliver restrictive life advice, but to encourage saying yes more often to alternative methods of conservation!
Roast Chicken Prep (optional):
Step 1. Pat your chicken dry and poke a few holes in it with a knife or fork.
Step 2. Prepare your chicken with a few squeezes of lime salt and a generous pinch of salt.
Step 3. Allow this to sit while you prepare your marinade.
Recipe for Marinade
Step 1. Cut ½ of a green pepper, ½ of a white onion, and the ends of 2 green onions.
Step 2. Finely chop 2 cloves of garlic and ½ bunch of cilantro.
Step 3. Add your chopped vegetables as well as ¼ cup of olive oil, 1 tablespoon of vinegar, 1 pinch of salt, pepper, oregano, paprika, and thyme, into a blender. Blend until smooth.
*Only half of this will be needed for today’s recipe, you can store the rest for a future marinade!*
Roast Veggies:
Step 1. Peel and chop your veggies into evenly sized pieces.
Step 2. Coat with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, salt, pepper, and rosemary.
Step 3. Spread evenly on a baking tray and bake at 180 for 1 hour.
Roast Chicken:
Step 1. Pat chicken dry.
Step 2. Coat chicken with a generous amount of marinade and massage into the chicken, as well as under the skin.
Step 3. Allow chicken to marinate for at least 20 minutes.
Step 4. Place chicken on an oven tray and place in the oven. Turn your stove to 180 for 45-55 minutes.
Chimichurri Recipe:
Step 1. Dice 1½ shallot, 1 green onion, 1 red pepper or jalalpeño (optional). Finely mince 2 cloves of garlic and 1 bunch of parsley. Add these to a small bowl.
Step 2. Add 2 tbsp of red wine vinegar, 1 tbsp of olive oil, and 1 pinch each of salt, pepper, and basil.
Step 4. Stir thoroughly, and enjoy over your chicken and veggies!
Often when we start our journey into a sustainable life, we start by focusing on buying new eco-friendly items, eco-substitutions, eco-swaps, bamboo-made items, etc.
More often than not, by doing this we end up paying lots more.
For the sake of buying green products, eco-friendly products, tailored branded alternative, sometimes we even buy thing when we really don’t need to.
This happens even to long-term sustainability champions.
However, by doing this we forget what sustainability really means.
Here at Southstainable we want to invite you to rethink what having a sustainable lifestyle really means.
For us, a sustainable life means a different way of sustaining your community, a way that starts from yourself, to your sustainance, so that we can be able to sustain something bigger without feeling it as a burden or something unachievable for everyone.
When it comes to making our lives more sustainable, this means ditching the expensive eco-friendly branded alternatives, which too often are not wallet friendly and not inclusive.
We can achieve this by just learning how to use what we have.
So here is for you 5 Eco-friendly but not budget-friendly objects that we really don’t need to buy and what to use instead as sustainable, low cost and easy to implement alternatives.
1# Expensive resuable water bottles
If you are still buying water in plastic, please stop. Really
Why would you do that?
And the main reason for that is not what you think.
Yes, plastic bottles represent one of the major pollutant on the planet, threatening not only biodiversity but also entire countries, communities and urban landscapes. That should be enough to stop.
But if it isn’t, let’s think about that.
Let’s think about it. Water. The basic the primordial needs of all biological beings.
Water is free.
No one is making water for us, it is naturally already there.
So why should be paying someone that to provide us something that already exist for free?
Madness.
And then, in the name of saving ocean from plastic, another madness appeared.
I am talking about “eco-friendly” refillable bottle that cost 20/30 pounds (and sometimes even more)
I am talking about those branded bottle that promise you to keep the water cool for 48 hours or so.
20 pounds for a piece of metal that contain some water.
Our ancestor are probably laughing now.
What we are buying is essentially a trendy fashion item, masqueraded as sustainable (for who? Not for us, certainly)
A way more sustainable solution for your pocket and the planet is to buy a normal bottle made of metal or glass.
And by normal I mean one that doesn’t cost a fortune.
Or even keep reusing a plastic bottle, which is one of the essential points of sustainability!
I’ve seen people use the same 1 pound bottle of coke for a year (it is sturdy and has a nice design).
So in the name of sustainability, when you think about buying a reusable bottle of water, think about what you are actually buying and what it’s for
Remember, water is free and the most natural thing to do is to keep it free and accessible for all, container included
#2 Fancy lunch box.
I love lunch boxes.
We have many lunch boxes of different shapes and materials, and we use them for various functions: storage, baking trays, plant beds and of course picnic lunch boxes.
However, none of them were originally a lunch box.
Again, why should I spend money (and often lots of) on something that I have already obtained and paid for?
You can obtain a free lunchbox from everywhere!
An example? Those take away plastic boxes that we obtain when we get our absolutely fantastic Jerk Chicken from our local carribean.
And we keep them.
And we bring them back to the shop and load them again with delicious jerk chicken.
Other example?
Glass oven trays, yogurt pots, jam or pickled jar.
Yes but they are not really for carrying lunch around, right?
Well, you will be surprise to know that they work even better!
Especially glass jars are amazing at avoid leakages. They are built for it!
Big olives or beetroot or pickled jar are the optimal solution if you want to carry your lunch with you and be absolutely sure that there will be no leakage.
They have a large capacity, are easy to clean after and cost almost nothing (you pay for what is inside, really!)
Go glass, sustain your pockets while sustaining the environment.
#3 Expensive “eco-friendly” cutleries
This is something I have been doing since the beginning and I really don’t understand why its not the universal solution.
Why should we buy fancy and expensive cutleries for your lunch box, sometimes even in plastic, when you can use your own home aluminium cutleries?
Ok, bamboo and reusable plastic is better than single use plastic.
I always carry my normal, home-looking but still very functional aluminium fork and spoon with me in my bag.
They are easily cleanable and guess what? They cost zero!
#4 Reusable coffee cups.
That’s another example of something that doesn’t need to be fancy and doesn’t need to be hyper expensive.
I believe the old purpose of reusable takeaway coffee cup is not only to reuse them and not send single use container to either landfill or to recycling, but also to enjoy a coffee on the go in a happy and uplifting way.
So, really, if I have to pay 15, 20 pounds for our usable coffee cup, plus coffee on top, I think it becomes quite unsustainable.
And that is, again, down to branding. Brands cost a lot with no porpose.
I do have a coffee cup, but despite being not branded, and with the sign of time (I have break it a few times and repaired as best as I can with glue) it is big enough and does the job of containing coffee.
And it costed 5 pounds.
Even better? Find a friend, order two coffee in ceramic cups, sit down, slow down, have a chat and enjoy the moment.
