A Christmas cracker is a Christmas staple. But, when the bad jokes are the best thing about them, you know somethingâs not quite right. Its time for an upgrade.
As founder of My Green Christmas, Sarah Wood, puts it:
âItâs funny, crackers are a real leveler. When you’re sat around a table with friends and family who you might not see that often and you give everybody a cracker, get them to pull it, put a hat on, and tell a joke, thatâs when the partyâs started, hasn’t it? So, it feels important to have crackers at Christmas, but why not in a sustainable way?â
If you feel like no Christmas table is complete without a cracker and a bang, here are some great eco-friendly alternatives to the supermarket classic â and they donât come with a useless plastic toyâŠ
RECYCLABLE CHRISTMAS CRACKERS
ÂŁ1.50 PER CRACKER, HOUSE OF CRACKERS
These recyclable Christmas crackers come with a snap, hat and a joke â but no gift, for ÂŁ1.50 each. You can refill them with whatever you fancy. A lovely hand cream? (Organic, natch). A delightful chocolate? (Fairtrade, of course). Your cracker-pulling guests will thank you for it, and youâll definitely be the host with the most.
ÂŁ25 FOR SIX, MY GREEN CHRISTMAS:
This packet of six Christmas Crackers each contains the long lasting gift of a packet of seeds: Sunflower, White Daisy, Red Poppy, Chives, Basil or Parsley. So, instead of the usual useless plastic toys you instantly break, lose or simply never use again, these seeds can be planted, bringing joy to your loved ones long after Christmas and into the New Year.
Sarah Wood explains how she came up with these crackers over post-Christmas dinner with friends:
âWe were talking about how wasteful Christmas is. You know, thereâs that moment at the end of a Christmas dinner, where everyone’s finished their food, the crackers have been pulled. And you come along and almost scoop everything up and just dump it in the bin because you’ve got things with glitter on, foil, plastic frogs, or mustaches that noone uses again. I just felt that this isn’t right. So we started to think, can we do something? Yes. And thatâs how My Green Christmas was formed.â
A thoughtful gesture for your guests and the environment too, they are made in the UK from FSC card, are entirely plastic-free and 100% recyclable. Theyâre finished off with a biodegradable green ribbon made from wood pulp derived from Pine and Eucalyptus trees, which means you can just pop them in your green bin – though theyâre lovely enough to hold onto and reuse!
Adding the star on top of the tree, for every box of crackers sold one tree is planted!
CHARITY CHRISTMAS CRACKERS
ÂŁ24.95 FOR 24, ADVENT OF CHANGE
These beautiful bad boys are plastic-free, eco-friendly and recyclable, and each of the crackers contains a donation to a different charity.
When you crack each cracker, youâll find out which charity youâve helped and what impact youâve had, prettily enclosed in a little Christmas bauble.
Whatâs more, each of the 24 crackers has a different joke written by a celebrity â but we wonât tell you who, because that would be tellingâŠ
REUSABLE CHRISTMAS CRACKERS
ÂŁ19 FOR SIX, ETSY
Purchase this set of six re-usable crackers for ÂŁ18 and they will be delivered flat-packed. OK, theyâre not round, but each one can be constructed and filled with a gift of choice. Plus, the refillable âsnapsâ mean they can be used again and again. This brilliant online shop sells everything you need to make fun, eco-friendly crackers of your own.
Personalise these Party Crackers, with stickers, stamps or simply add your own decorations on them. These crackers have a matt finish so you can draw and paint on them too! Perfect to decorate your party table or use as gift wrapping for those special presents. Made in UK.
ÂŁ14.95 FOR ONE, OR ÂŁ74.50 FOR SIX, KATE SPRONSTON CRACKERS
These eco-friendly reusable embroidered crackers are beautifully crafted with care and attention to detail. Handmade in the UK, they are made with high-quality UK made materials, including a recycled cardboard inner tube, 100% natural linen, embroidered with satin thread, completed with green satin ribbon ties.
These crackers were born out of founder Kate Spronstonâs love for traditional and contemporary embroidery, as well as her experience growing up in a household full of handmade toys and gifts:
âWhen I was growing up, my mum used to make her own Christmas crackers. When I started my business, I thought how fantastic it would be to have really beautifully embroidered crackers that we could keep using.
“The crackers you buy in the shops are full of such rubbish, and I thought these would be a nice way to gift loved ones something special. So, that’s how the crackers came about. And as the years have gone on, I started to realise the environmentally friendly benefits of them too.â
So, though they are snap free, you can still make a bang â by filling them with a personal message and special gift – perhaps money, tickets, vouchers, or even make a grand announcement…
âI had the most amazing story. A lady bought just one cracker to give to her parents and she put inside the baby scan photo. So when they opened it on Christmas morning, it was a scan of the first grandchild. I can’t beat that.â – Kate Spronston
These crackers are a lovely investment that will stay with you year after year (as long as you donât drown them in gravy…).
OR⊠YOU CAN DIY YOUR CHRISTMAS CRACKERS
No, weâre not crackers (sorry not sorry).
The DIY Christmas cracker route involves saving cardboard toilet roll inserts and rolling them in an A4 piece of fabric of your choice.
Fill with a handwritten joke and gift and tie with string at each end – itâs really that simple.
These look festive, but are untied â rather than pulled apart â by each guest (a small sacrifice
Main image: Advent of Change
