How Can Shiply Help This Christmas?

Posted on December 21, 2020December 21, 2020 by Louis Watton

Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, we won’t all be able to spend our time with family over the festive period anymore. With the country now split into varying tiers with different restrictions, many of us are trying to work out how to celebrate Christmas in lockdown.

At Shiply, we still want to be able to help you have a great Christmas and so have put together some suggestions for how we can help this December.

Moving Presents

If you were planning to take your presents back to your family yourself and no longer can due to the new restrictions then Shiply can help. For as little as £23 you could transport all of your gifts to where they need to be so at least you can see them opened on Zoom!

We may be close to the big day, however many are still shopping online where your purchasing options are opened up to second-hand sites and auctions too. If you have found the perfect gift on Ebay or Gumtree but need it delivered, we can help.

With up to 75% off of standard delivery rates, you can be sure that your bargain stays a bargain, even after shipping fees. Whether it is a new piece of furniture, a big new TV or perhaps even a sought after PS5 that requires an extra helping hand to get where it needs to be.

Moving Back After Christmas

If you managed to make it home from university or from where you live to be with your family, then you may need help returning after Christmas with all of your newly acquired gifts! Shiply can help with getting all of your possessions safely transported to where they need to be. You can even get assistance with packing and unpacking by specifying this in the listing. This can be ideal if your family are unable to travel to help you due to time constraints or COVID-19 restrictions.

Even if you are more local and are just heading back from your parents but have a mountain of presents and food from the big day, hiring a man and a van to shift your stuff to where it needs to be can make your life that much easier this Christmas.

We know it’s different this year, but we hope everyone is still able to enjoy a lovely festive period in whatever way they can.

Merry Christmas from the team at Shiply.

Shiply’s Recycling Tips for Christmas

Posted on December 24, 2019December 24, 2019 by Louis Watton

Whether it was the very public demonstrations of Extinction Rebellion or the passionate appeals of Greta Thunberg, there is no doubt that climate change and the current ecological state of our planet has been a hot topic of 2019 (and so it should be).

With one of the most notoriously excessive holidays just around the corner, we wanted to share some of our best suggestions on how to combat unnecessary waste this Christmas and make sure that you can enjoy the festivities in planet-saving style:

Food Waste

When it comes to Christmas dinner our eyes are always bigger than our stomachs. No matter how tasty your roast is there are always inevitably leftovers, and to make sure you are getting the most out of your food you should do one of two things:

Save them for another meal – remember Ross’ Christmas sandwich from Friends? You could recreate your very own ‘moist maker’, and believe me they are as good as they sound! Keeping leftovers means you can get multiple meals out of your food and keep the unnecessary waste at bay.

Use Food waste bins – if there are not enough leftovers to make a meal of, make sure you are disposing of the food in food waste bins. When food is disposed of improperly and ends up in a landfill it produces methane, a potent greenhouse gas, whereas if it goes in the food waste bin it ends up as plant fertiliser!

Wrapping

Unwrapping presents can be one of the best parts of the day, but it certainly does leave behind a lot of rubbish. According to gov.uk, the amount of wrapping paper thrown away after Christmas would stretch to the moon! When all the gift-giving is finished, make sure you collect all the paper and cardboard up and put it in the recycling bin to ensure it is put to good use in the future.

Unwanted Presents

We all love receiving gifts at Christmas, but a lot of the time we receive things we don’t necessarily want. ‘Stocking fillers’ are the biggest culprit, and you may be wondering what to do with your seventh pack of Lynx Africa if you really don’t need it – here are some options:

Give them to charity – there are always people who need something more than you do and giving unwanted gifts to charity is an excellent way of guaranteeing the gift will be used and appreciated by someone in need.

Return it for something else, or even just for store credit – keep those receipts! Although it may ‘spoil’ the fun by revealing how much you have spent, supplying receipts with gifts means that they can always be returned for something else or for store credit rather than ending up unused or in the bin.

Sell them on – if you don’t have a receipt but don’t want to throw the gift away you can always sell it on sites like eBay and Gumtree, ensuring that it is still going to be used by someone and not put to waste. As an extra eco-bonus, use Shiply to deliver the sold items for up to 75% less than usual rates and to stop unnecessary traffic on the road by using someone who is already going there.

Merry Christmas from the team at Shiply!

Think green this Christmas

Posted on December 15, 2017December 15, 2017 by admin

If you’re wondering how to have a less wasteful Christmas this year, here are some tips to make your Christmas a little greener. Planning ahead could make a big difference to how much you throw away and help minimise your effect on the environment.

Buy Second hand presents

Shiply blog image Image Souce Ebay.co.uk

Second hand doesn’t have to be a stained or half eaten present. It can also mean something virtually brand new in a box that was an unwanted gift for someone else but perfect for who you’re buying for. Before heading straight for brand new, consider looking for something second hand. Use sites like eBay to find pre-loved (or never-loved) items that deserve a better home and look good as new, which should please even the fussiest of Christmas guests. It should save you some money, too.

Be mindful of potential waste

There are a lot of things we do around this period that are excessive, without giving them a second thought. Do you really need to buy a huge bag of sprouts when it’s only one person that’ll actually eat them? Do you really need three whole desserts for a family of six? When you’re shopping, try and think about portion sizes (if you’re going to be following recipes, look at what is recommended for each person and try to stick to it). People overspend and overbuy – remember you can always buy more another day if there’s not enough! The same goes for gifts – if you have more than one gift for one person, do you really need to wrap them individually and do they really need more than one in the first place?
If your loved ones have stockings, think about what you’re putting in there and don’t just fill it for the sake of it. Will the small toys really be used? Do they really need all those gimmicks? Think carefully about what you’re buying and the consequences on the planet if they’re thrown away.

Make sure you recycle

Shiply blog image Image Source: Wonderopolis.org

If you’re finding it too difficult to find out how many mouths you need to feed, or presents to buy (maybe you’re not sure who’s going to be coming round and when!), make sure that you’re able to recycle what you do not use. For waste food, make sure you don’t just throw it away – leftovers can be sorted into portions and eaten later. Popular ways to use turkey leftovers include making christmas sandwiches or turkey curries. As a last resort, discard in a compost heap or put in a food bin for the council to collect.

Make sure you separate wrapping paper and cardboard to be recycled. If you don’t already recycle, take a look at your local council’s website to see how you can avoid putting your Christmas waste into landfill.

Think green this Christmas!