Waste-less Holiday Market promotes sustainable shopping in Edmonton
By Madi Gerrior on December 9, 2025
With holiday waste on the rise, Edmonton’s Waste-less Holiday Market returned for its fourth year at the Reuse Centre on Saturday, Dec. 13, offering shoppers a chance to support local vendors and embrace sustainable gift-giving.
Sustainable shopping options:
- Local artisans and vendors
- Eco-conscious businesses
- Upcycled and reusable holiday decor
From gift tags made out of old holiday cards to little gnomes made out of felt and other materials, the market offered an alternative to the excess often associated with the holidays.
What organizers and vendors say:
“There are ways to be waste free within a gift. Maybe you give the gift of an experience? Or a subscription, but being wasteless really means you’re doing your part to know how your waste is actually impacting the environment and your community,” said Kristin Arnot, waste reduction supervisor at the Reuse Centre.
Attendees visited 19 vendor stations, checking out the booths from trees made out of beach glass, to textiles dyed with natural plants and insects.
“I make needle felting craft kits, and I came here to get all of the packaging for it. In the past, I found some paper bags to package them in the most recent time I came they didn’t have those. But I found a bunch of small boxes, so I think here is a great place,” said Taylor Seal, owner of Tansy Textiles.
Seal makes her items out of dying second-hand textiles with plants, insects and other materials.
“We have more than enough clothes for generations, and I love textiles but didn’t want to be adding to the waste and pollution of it,” she said.
“So, were using a lot of textiles and then incorporating plant dyes to refresh them and give them a new look.”
They have a WasteWise App that tells you where to bring your waste and what you can and cannot throw out, such as artificial Christmas trees.
Arnot says they’re looking to expand in the upcoming years from focusing on being residential to being commercial and institutional, along with hosting more DIY workshops on Thursdays for children and families.
They’re hoping to receive more donations in the future to give back to the community.
4 Ways to stay wasteless- Infographic by madigerri