Eco Friendly Christmas Crackers

16 Best Eco-Friendly Christmas Crackers for Plastic-Free Snaps

Christmas crackers make a great addition to the festivities with silly jokes, surprise treats, and gifts. They also make beautiful table decorations. But if you are trying to have a sustainable Christmas celebration, then you know that only eco-friendly Christmas crackers will do. 

To make the search for the best eco-friendly Christmas cracker easier for you, we rounded up 16 of the best eco-friendly Christmas cracker brands.

Note: A confectioner named Tom Smith invented Christmas crackers in London in the 1800s. Since they’ve become a popular feature around Christmas tables across the UK and the Commonwealth, however, they aren’t nearly as popular in the US, and if you’re reading in the US and would like to join in, please note that most of our listings below are UK based. Therefore, check shipping and timings to reach stateside in time for Christmas dinner. 

Merry Xmas! Meanwhile, check out our ideas and tips for a zero-waste Christmas. We also have a great rundown of eco-friendly stocking stuffers perfect for stockings and under your eco-friendly Christmas tree. M6 recyclable and plastic-free Christmas crackers

11 Eco-Friendly Christmas Crackers

Affiliate Disclosure: TRVST is a participant in various affiliate programs, including Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and its international variants. As such, we may earn an advertising fee from qualifying purchases at no cost to you.

1. RSPB

RSPB Christmas Crackers
Photo Credit: RSBP

The UK-based Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) has an impressive pair of eco-friendly Christmas crackers. These crackers contain goodies like vegan fairtrade chocolate and palm oil free. 

In an RSPB cracker, you'll also find a paper hat, a joke, a bird fact, and a paper with origami instructions. There is a pre-discount if you are buying two boxes in one go.

What we like

You can avoid plastic waste while sticking to traditions this year. RSPB offers 100% plastic-free Christmas crackers, plastic-free gifts, and plastic-free packaging. The packaging is recycled cardboard, and it is recyclable.

The cons

There are only two design choices for RSPB crackers, which might be a problem if you want many different designs.

Buy RSPB crackers

2. Graham and Green Christmas crackers 

Graham and Green Christmas crackers 
Photo Credit: Graham and Green

Graham and Green have quite a collection of eco-Christmas crackers. There are pet-friendly crackers without noisy snaps, nutcracker-shaped crackers, botanical designs, and so much more. The gift may be a game card or wine charm; you just pick one that would suit your Christmas guests.

What we like

Graham and Green manage to design for diverse tastes and still maintain an offering of plastic-free and recyclable Christmas crackers.

The cons

No recycled paperboard or materials are used in these crackers. 

Buy Graham and Green crackers

3. Dunelm Christmas crackers

Dunelm Christmas crackers
Photo Credit: Dunelm

Dunelm offers various designs of eco-friendly Christmas crackers, from dinosaur crackers to luxury geometric ones. Any of those would add style and fun to your dinner table.

These crackers are filled with plastic-free goodies made from metal, like rules, keychains, bottle openers, nail cutters, etc., or they have paper games that kids can play repeatedly.

What we like

Every Christmas cracker you buy from Dunelm is fully recyclable, even the packaging. You just have to separate the raffia ribbons from the foil and paper.

The cons

There is no mention of recycled materials in these Christmas crackers.

Buy Dunelm crackers

4. Blooming Christmas crackers

Blooming Christmas crackers 
Photo: Laura Likes Cards

If your family is enthusiastic about gardening or your gardening club is having a Christmas dinner, a Blooming eco-friendly Christmas cracker would make a memorable gift. They contain paper hats, a joke, and a packet of flower and vegetable seeds.

What we like

They make Blooming crackers with recycled post-consumer paper and tie them up with raffia ribbon. You can recycle or compost them. Also, the glassine bags the seeds come in are biodegradable.

The cons

These crackers are more suitable for gardening enthusiasts than just anyone.

Shop on Etsy

5. Marks and Spencer Christmas crackers

Marks and Spencer Christmas crackers
Photo Credit: Marks and Spencer

This brand has an impressive collection of plastic-free eco-friendly Christmas crackers. Besides the hats and jokes, Marks and Spencer offer crackers with game cards, kids’ paper games, or metal items like carabiners, cookie cutters, mini whisks, etc.

What we like

With games you can play all year long and functional mini tools, you won't have to throw anything in the trash from this Christmas cracker. Marks and Spencer’s 100% recyclable Christmas crackers are made from wood sourced from FSC-certified forests.

The cons

Nothing in these crackers is recycled; they all use virgin materials.

Buy Marks and Spencer crackers

6. Wrendale Christmas crackers

Wrendale Christmas crackers
Photo Credit: Wrendale

If your taste is for luxury Christmas crackers, Wrendale has the perfect plastic-free eco-Christmas crackers for you. They have filled each cracker and put a joke, a paper hat, and a domed glass Christmas magnet gift.

What we like

A Wrendale Christmas cracker is free from plastic gifts. It is unclear what material the ribbons are made from, but they are high quality, so that you can save them for crafts projects.

Buy Wrendale crackers

7. Little Green Cracker Company crackers

Little Green Cracker Company crackers
Photo Credit: Little Green Cracker Company

The Little Green Cracker Company offers handmade eco-friendly Christmas crackers filled with plastic-free tea bags, fragrant tea lights, shampoo bars, flower seeds, and so on. Each gift is from some small business based in the UK.

What we like

To make its sustainable Christmas crackers, the little green cracker company uses recycled paperboard when it can. They decorate each cracker with raffia ribbons or eco-friendly Tencel and ship in sustainable packaging.

The cons

Since these crackers are not reusable, it would be better for the environment if they were always made with paper that’s been recycled.

Buy Little Green Cracker

8. Nancy and Betty Christmas crackers

Nancy and Betty Christmas crackers
Photo Credit: Nancy and Betty

This UK brand creates luxury handmade eco-friendly crackers. There are no plastic gifts in its packaging. The brand has a large and lovely selection of crackers for children and adults. The gift could be a wooden bracelet, a cookie cutter, or a wooden honey drizzler.

What we like

Nancy and Betty partner with One Tree Planted to plant a tree for every box it sells. Additionally, they only use vegetable-based inks for printing. If you take the fabric bow off, you can recycle the empty crackers and the box they come in.

The cons

This cracker uses non-recyclable or biodegradable fabric bows instead of raffia or other more eco-friendly materials.

Buy Nancy and Betty crackers

9. MsClaus Workshop Co crackers

MsClaus Workshop Co crackers
Photo Credit: MsClaus Workshop Co

Eco-friendly Christmas crackers but make it elegant. This brand offers Christmas crackers in white, blue, green, purple, red, grey, kraft brown, and black. Each cracker comes with UK wildflower seeds, a hat, a joke, and a charm to add to a keychain or upcycle into a book marker.

MsClaus offers alternative gifts of vegan sweets and chocolates, coloring pencils, etc. you just have to special-order them.

What we like 

MsClaus Workshop uses recycled paper; even the tag and twine ties are paper. You can add the cracker material to your backyard compost when the celebration is done.

The cons

Wildflower seeds may not make great gifts for your friends and family, with no space or opportunity for gardening.

Buy MsClaus Workshop Co

10. Conscious Crackers

Conscious Crackers
Photo Credit: Conscious Crackers

Handmade from post-consumer paper waste in the UK, this six-pack cracker has the essential hats and jokes but also comes with eco-friendly gifts. The Floral box has six different wildflower seeds.

For the Classic box, the gifts are organic pepper seeds, a lavender mini soap bar, a loofah sponge, plantable tree decorations, a reusable cotton round, and a refillable surface cleaner. 

What we like

Conscious crackers are entirely plastic-free and are compostable or recyclable. There is no print on the crackers so you can reuse them for another celebration. 

The cons

It is plain and without any surface design whatsoever.

Buy Conscious crackers

11. Crackers Ltd tin Christmas crackers

Crackers Ltd tin Christmas crackers
Photo Credit: Crackers Ltd

This brand’s reusable tin eco-friendly Christmas crackers will save you the cost of buying new crackers for many Christmases to come. Each box contains four cracker-shaped tin in four different colors. Each tin has a snowman or Santa Claus print. 

What we like

These zero-waste sturdy tin crackers can be reused for decades; just fill them with your own gifts. You don't have to fill them immediately, it comes pre-packed. There are also three years worth of paper hats and jokes in each pack.

The cons

If you are going for a loud bang, this is not the cracker for you. These tin crackers contain no snap, so they open quietly. On the flip side, if you have pets and little kids, the loud bang a regular cracker snap makes might be a problem. 

Buy on Amazon or Direct

Eco-friendly fill-your-own crackers

You can create your own eco-friendly crackers using fill-your-own crackers that were made sustainably. Some of these products are reusable, others just recyclable, and all are plastic free.

12. Kaneo

Kaneo Reusable Fabric Crackers
Photo Credit: Kaneo 

This brand has a range of plush velvet tube crackers that you can reuse for as long as you want. The sustainable Christmas crackers are available in six designs that are suitable for easter and birthdays as well. They used recycled cardboard to make tubes in them.

There are paper hats, chalks, chalkboard name tags, gold lettering stickers in every box, and sticky snaps in every box. You can buy any one of those items when you exhaust the initial supply.

What we like

No need for throwaway joke slips. Kaneo has QR codes on its name tags that you can scan for access to jokes. The brand also donates 10% of every sale to The Salvation Army. 

The cons

Velvet requires a high level of maintenance to keep its shine, year after year.

Buy Kaneo crackers

13. &keep

&keep Craft Crackers
Photo Credit: &keep

A plain Kraft paper cracker is simple and versatile. You can use them on Christmas, boxing day, and even New Year's celebrations. &Keep pre-cut cracker boards that are easy to set up and come with snaps, jokes, and hats. 

It would provide an extra fun activity to have your kids draw and paint on the plain boards before you roll them.

What we like

The paper hats in these crackers are made from recycled paper. And instead of fabric ribbons, they use dyed raffia for a colorful natural finish. 

The cons

The brand doesn't say if the crackers are recyclable or reusable. You may have to compost them or trash them.

Buy &keep crackers

14. 2 Green monkeys Christmas crackers

2 Green monkeys Christmas crackers
Photo Credit: 2 Green monkeys

How would you like reusable crackers that turn into elegant napkins for your dinner table after you open them? This brand sells crackers that consist of a cardboard tube wrapped by a gold embroidered cotton napkin. You can choose to have your loved ones’ names embroidered on the napkin crackers.

What we like

The gold embroidered napkin will add a nice touch to your table every festive season. Also, the cardboard tubes in these crackers are durable; you can wrap them up and store them for another party. You can preserve the twine as well.

The cons

These crackers do not have a snap effect, but if you have pets, that makes them pet friendly. Also, they do not come with paper hats and jokes.

Buy 2 Green Monkeys

15. Keep This Christmas crackers

Keep This Christmas crackers
Photo Credit: Keep This

This brand’s fill-your-own Christmas crackers promise a pet-friendly Ecosnap. It won't scare your pet or little kids, but it still makes that satisfying Christmas cracker pop. They fold flat, so they work as reusable Christmas crackers as well.

What we like

The kraft paper they use to make these products is sustainable and printed with vegetable ink.

The cons

These are not recyclable crackers.

Buy Keep This

16. Altered state studio fabric crackers

Altered state
Photo Credit: Altered state

This UK brand sews reusable Christmas crackers from cotton. They feature a variety of patterns and colors. The handmade cracker has organza ribbons and velcro fasteners. Although it makes no banging noise, you can add snaps.

What we like

Beyond creating your own crackers filled with personalized ethical gifts, you can reuse these fabric crackers for a long time. Cotton is a resilient fabric; if tears are no longer repairable, you can recycle them.

The cons

There will be no loud snapping sound, but velcro crunch might do.

Buy Altered State Studio

Conclusion

To avoid waste this festive season, make your Christmas crackers eco-friendly Christmas crackers. Eco-friendly Christmas crackers should be glitter free, plastic-free, and sustainably made. This list will help you find the best Christmas crackers for sustainable celebrations.

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Pin Image Portrait 16 Best Eco-Friendly Christmas Crackers for Plastic-Free Snaps

Jen’s a passionate environmentalist and sustainability expert. With a science degree from Babcock University Jen loves applying her research skills to craft editorial that connects with our global changemaker and readership audiences centered around topics including zero waste, sustainability, climate change, and biodiversity.

Elsewhere Jen’s interests include the role that future technology and data have in helping us solve some of the planet’s biggest challenges.

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