Sustainable Festive Season Tips for SMEs: Reducing Waste & Managing Costs

The festive season can be one of the busiest and most expensive times of the year for UK SMEs. Whether you operate in retail, hospitality, services or manufacturing, December often brings higher energy use, more waste, increased resource consumption and tighter margins.

But it’s also a great opportunity to embed sustainability into day-to-day operations in ways that reduce cost, cut waste and boost staff engagement. The actions SMEs take now can support both peak-season efficiency and long-term environmental benefits.

Here’s how to prepare for a more sustainable, cost-effective holiday season.

🎄 1. Review your festive season resource use

Before the December rush hits, take a moment to understand where your business typically uses more energy or materials. For many SMEs, this includes longer opening hours, increased lighting, additional packaging, or higher production volume.

Even a quick, informal review of last year’s operations can help you spot opportunities to reduce waste. Maybe your heating ran unnecessarily in unused rooms, or packaging levels were higher than needed. Understanding the pattern helps you take targeted action.

❄️ 2. Reduce unnecessary energy use during longer working hours

With shorter daylight hours and colder temperatures, winter energy use can rise dramatically. A few small changes can prevent costs from spiralling:

• Avoid heating unused areas.

• Check timers, thermostats and motion-sensor lighting ahead of time.

• Encourage staff to switch off equipment at the end of each day.

• Make sure fridges, displays or catering equipment run efficiently and are properly maintained.

These improvements not only reduce emissions, they directly support your bottom line during a costly season.

🎁 3. Make smarter choices with packaging

If your business ships products or uses seasonal packaging, the holidays often generate large amounts of cardboard, plastic and protective materials.

Switching to recyclable, reusable or lower-impact packaging can immediately reduce waste and disposal fees. Many SMEs also save money by using right-sized packaging, reducing the amount of filler required and lowering shipping costs.

This is also something customers increasingly notice. Sustainable packaging strengthens your brand and helps meet growing expectations around waste reduction.

🍽️ 4. Manage food waste carefully (for cafés, restaurants & hospitality businesses)

The festive period often means unpredictable demand. Food waste can become a major cost and an environmental burden.

Practical ways to reduce waste include:

• Tracking best-selling and slow-selling products to adjust ordering

• Improving stock rotation

• Offering smaller portion options where appropriate

• Creating festive specials that use surplus ingredients

• Donating safe, unsold food to community groups

Reducing food waste during December supports both cost control and your sustainability goals.

💡 5. Use smarter, efficient holiday lighting

Festive lighting is a wonderful way to create atmosphere, but traditional bulbs can be energy-intensive.

Switching to LEDs reduces consumption significantly, and using timers ensures you’re not lighting your premises overnight. These low-cost changes can have an immediate energy-saving impact while still keeping your business looking its best.

🎉 6. Encourage a sustainable staff culture during a busy month

December is a great time to get your team involved in sustainability. Staff are often more motivated during the festive period, and small behavioural shifts can have a big impact.

You might:

• Run a friendly “switch-off challenge” in the office

• Encourage walking, cycling or car-sharing for holiday events

• Share simple sustainability tips as part of internal communications

• Recognise staff who spot efficiency improvements

Employees enjoy being part of solutions and their involvement is essential to long-term progress.

🗑️ 7. Plan for reduced operations or shutdown periods

As your business approaches the festive break, it’s worth preparing for a more sustainable shutdown.

Make sure that:

• Heating and lighting schedules are adjusted

• Non-essential equipment is unplugged

• Fridges and appliances are cleaned and powered down where safe

• Waste is sorted and cleared before closure

A festive season shutdown is a perfect chance to cut unnecessary energy use and the savings can be surprisingly substantial.

♻️ 8. Celebrate sustainability achievements from the year

The end of the year is a great time to reflect on what your business has accomplished. You don’t need dramatic results, the small wins matter.

Maybe you reduced energy use, switched to renewable electricity, cut packaging waste or engaged your team in new ways. Celebrate these milestones with staff and customers. It reinforces positive culture and sets the tone for continued progress in 2026.

⭐ Final Thought: A sustainable festive season is good for business

Sustainability doesn’t need to make your busiest season more complicated. In fact, the holidays are the perfect time to adopt small, practical changes that reduce waste, lower costs and strengthen your environmental impact.

The most effective seasonal sustainability actions are the ones that support your business operationally, saving time, saving money and preparing you for a more resilient year ahead.

At The Net Zero Co., we help SMEs map opportunities like these with our Sustainability Health Check, giving you practical steps to start or accelerate your sustainability journey.

This festive season, small changes can make a big difference for your business, your team and the planet.