8 Ideas For Sustainable Christmas Decorations & Ornaments

‘Tis the season to be jolly. Being jolly is at risk when one thinks of the massive amount of overconsumption that the holiday season brings. On top of non-recyclable wrapping paper, food waste, used Christmas trees, and unwanted gifts, our landfills are also at the mercy of another ghost of Christmas past: used decor.

There’s still reason to be ho-ho-hopeful, because the most sustainable Christmas decorations won’t contribute to alarming Christmas waste statistics. So how do you make Christmas decorations sustainable?

We’ve pulled together a list of decorative standouts so you don’t have to do endless research. These decorations include wreaths, baubles, ornaments, garlands, and trees, and are offered by brands who are thoughtful about the materials they use, how fairly treated the people are who make them, and often have other green business practices in place too. You’ll notice a couple on this list who have been rated by us. This means they have been assessed against our thorough 22-criteria rating system. You can find other rated brands in our sustainable brand directory. To learn more about how we found these decorations, head to the end of the article where we go into more detail.

Note: While this list covers eco-friendly Christmas decorations you can buy, we personally love making our own homemade sustainable Christmas decorations from recycled materials. You know…garlands made out of fallen pine cones, origami stars made from paper scraps, red and green chains made from eco-friendly toilet paper tubes… the options are endless. If DIY is your jam, check out our whole list of DIY Christmas decoration ideas.

Other related guides: Sustainable Christmas Ideas, Eco-Friendly Gifts, Zero Waste Gifts, Ideas for Sustainable Stocking Stuffers, Sustainable Wrapping Paper

Price Range: $5 (ornaments) – $835 (for a 7FT/8FT tree)

So, what is the most eco-friendly type of Christmas tree? We’d say a reusable wooden tree from Welcome To The Woodshop is the way to go. Not only is it easy to assemble, but the branches are able to twist in all directions, allowing you to add your own personal style to your space.

For minimalist friends, we recommend the Simple X-shaped style, available in 3ft–8ft heights. The handcrafted natural Christmas trees are made from wood, oak, pinewood, and steel.

Carpenter owner Aaron McKay uses traditional techniques to bring products to life at his Mom-and-Pop Montgomery County, PA woodshop. Salvaged materials are incorporated “to encourage a healthy, sustainable environment”.

Welcome To The Woodshop has an Etsy Store which ships with carbon-neutral shipping.

Price Range: $5–$15

You may not find biodegradable tinsel on our sustainable decorations list, but BullEtBalloon has wool Christmas garland that always sleighs. Whether you’re a white Christmas kind of person or you’re into the classic styles, one of their garlands is sure to put you in the festive spirit. Along with different colors, you’ll find a ton of fun shapes like stars, penguins, and even letters.

Their sustainable holiday decor is made from 100% sheep wool, sometimes combined with FSC-certified wooden components. The sheep wool balls are made from Nepalese women in a Fair Trade certified company.

The balls are compostable and dyed with chemical-free sustainable dyes. They choose packaging that is as eco-friendly and minimal as possible, including 100% recycled plastic polymailers, shipping labels with recyclable liners, biodegradable tape, biodegradable packing peanut, and no fancy and useless stickers.

Price Range: $34–$250

The handcrafted paper Christmas villages and sustainable Christmas tree ornaments from Belgian Paperworks are anything but tear-able. The Etsy star-seller boasts a 5-star average review and is an Etsy Design Awards finalist. The one-of-a-kind, easy-to-store eco-friendly Christmas decor is everything you’ve been looking for.

The Christmas decorations are made strictly from creamy French watercolor paper that is acid free and archival. Meanwhile, recycled Christmas ornaments are made from paper offcuts from her larger pieces.

Owner American Guild of Paper Cutters member, Anne Lovau, painstakingly creates each and every hand carved piece in her geothermal-energy powered paper studio in Sonoma County, California. Anne sources paper from climate mindful mills, including those that are FSC-certified, Cradle-to-Cradle Certified, and Climate Neutral.

Some of their Christmas decor is shipped in protective plastic sleeves, though you can always ask for a paper sleeve during checkout.

Price Range: $10–$40

Paper High Gifts is a mecca of minimalist gifts, like recycled paper coasters and sustainable leather bags. They also have the most heartfelt eco-friendly Christmas ornaments, tree toppers, and sustainable wreaths for the festive season.

With fairytale Fluffy Sheep and beautifully Beaded Bees, their felt ornaments are guaran-tree-d to give your Christmas tree a whimsical touch. Their felt ornaments are made from sustainable wool, but they also have sustainable Christmas ornaments made of recycled items, like glass and metal.

Paper High Gifts effectively reject mass production, and opt for a slower supply chain that embraces the sustainability of traditional skill and natural materials. All products are designed in their UK-based workshop before being outsourced for production via fair trade organizations around the world, including the Association for Craft Producers (ACP), Aaha Felt, and Barefoot College.

Many of their manufacturers have adopted sustainable practices. For example, ACP has their own solar panels, wastewater treatment plant, and rainwater harvesting systems.

Price Range: $15–$40

With ethically-sourced wooden nativity scenes, gingerbread decor, and sustainable Christmas tree ornaments from Ten Thousand Villages, we’ll definitely be home for Christmas (because we’d never want to leave!). With over seven pages of holiday decorations from around the world, you can feel confident about finding a style that suits your fair trade festivities.

If you’re looking for a contemporary design, you can’t go wrong topping your tree with a Paisley Paper Star from India or lining the mantle with the Golden Star Garland from Bangladesh.

Because they sell the wares of numerous small artisans and cooperatives, Ten Thousand Villages utilizes what feels like ten thousand different sustainable materials in their holiday decorations. Including quilled paper, wool, ceramic, wood, palm leaf, and even gourds.

The non-profit organization comprises over 75 artisan groups in more than 20 developing countries, many being women (60%) and people with disabilities. As founding members of the World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO), we don’t doubt their commitment to fair wages and healthy workplaces.

TTV prioritizes brands with energy efficient workshops and small supply chains, as well as those that use renewable, recycled, and locally-sourced materials. 92% of revenue is reinvested in their maker to market mission, adding up to over $110 million dollars in international artisan investments so far.

Price Range: $8–$50

How do you make sustainable Christmas tree decorations? Ask Kazi, home to gifts, eco-friendly planters, and a small selection of eco-Christmas decorations. If sustainable ornaments are what you’re after, they have a stunning range to choose from and they also offer two garland options made from raffia, banana fibers, and organic dyes.

Their Christmas decorations, as well as all of their other products, are handcrafted using three super materials: Sisal, Raffia, and Elephant Grass—sourced from Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania, and Ghana, respectively. All three fabrics are responsibly harvested, and dyed with eco-friendly dyes. Weavers learn how to harvest and grow their own materials, encouraging independence and economic development in the local community.

Their Christmas tree decorations may be colorful, but their business practices are completely transparent. The brand boasts the highly-coveted Nest Seal of Ethical Handcraft, which is renewed every year via onsite audits. This means that all African artisan made products have been crafted in a home or small workshop with fair wages, good working conditions, and no child labor.

KAZI’s business model is based on building marketplaces in artisan communities that drive long-term economic success.

We’ve made the list and checked it twice and we’ve only included brands that made the nice list this year, so you can have an effortlessly eco-friendly festive season.

Materials:

Christmas decorations with natural materials are great, so long as those materials are sustainably harvested.

Zero waste Christmas decorations (compostable and/or reusable) is our reference, but recycled Christmas decor makes us feel pretty holly jolly, too.

Relevant Certifications: Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC), OEKO-TEX, Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS)

Supply chain & labor practices:

If you’re reading this, you probably already know the little magical elves in Santa’s workshop don’t really exist. Your Christmas decorations and gifts are made by real people trying to make a living for themselves and their families, often at the cost of exploitative working conditions.

By choosing products from fair trade employers, you can break generational cycles and help people receive the rights they deserve.

Relevant Certifications: World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO), Fair Trade Federation, B Corporation (B Corp), Nest Seal

Carbon commitments & green practices:

Though environmentally friendly Christmas decor can be any color, we prefer to be green. Bad jokes aside, things we are looking for here include renewable resources, sustainable packaging, and carbon offsets.

Community & charitable giving:

Considering Christmas is the season of giving, we love when businesses give back to people in need. The Etsy-shops got a pass for this one considering most of them are so small, but we have high expectations for those big businesses.

Sustainable Jungle Brand Ratings:

We also prioritized brands who have been rated by us on their sustainability credentials. This means they have been through our 22-criteria rating assessment and provided us with additional transparency.

The sad reality of the most wonderful time of the year is that it is also the most wasteful. How would you feel if you found out that the remnants of your holiday decor ended up straight in Rudolph’s stomach? Or, even worse, made Sam The Snowman completely melt away from its carbon emissions.

Thankfully, with more sustainable swaps like consumable gifts, zero waste gift wrapping, and sustainable Christmas decor, we don’t have to contribute to this wasteful winter wonderland quite as much.

That said, the most sustainable decorations are those you already own, so don’t dump all your own options in the landfill if you don’t need to replace them.

Now that that’s all wrapped up, leave us an early Christmas present by sharing this list of sustainable decorations with festive friends and loved ones, so they too can have a conscious holiday season.

Editor’s Note: First published in November 2023, this article has been updated in November 2025 to include newly rated brands from our Sustainable Jungle Rating System, refreshed imagery, and refined copy for clarity and accuracy.