Hey guys, it’s Jake from the Christmas resin ornaments side – first off, thanks for swinging by my corner of the internet. This time of year, everyone’s stressed about two big things: making their tree look fire, and not ruining the planet while doing it. Lately I’ve gotten so many DMs from buyers, hobbyists, even a few little local craft groups asking the same question: Are those resin Christmas ornaments actually eco-friendly? As someone who’s been making and supplying these things for almost 8 years now, I’ve dug into every nook of this question, and let me tell you – it’s not a black and white answer. It’s messy, a little nuanced, and something I’ve actually spent hundreds of hours testing to get right for my business. Christmas Resin Ornaments
Let’s start with what most people actually mean when they say “eco-friendly Christmas decor.” They don’t want something that’s going to sit in a landfill for 1,000 years, right? Or leach weird chemicals when their cat knocks it off the shelf. Or take way more energy to make than it’s worth. First, I need to be real: resin itself is a plastic, full stop. It’s not wood, it’s not cotton, it’s not glass (wait, no, glass is another material people compare it to). But wait – not all resins are created equal. I stopped using that cheap, clear, petroleum-based epoxy stuff 5 years ago because the fumes were brutal when we were casting, and I heard from customers their old ornaments would get a little sticky after a couple of winters. Now we use plant-based resin – it’s mostly derived from soybean oil, some from sugarcane, and it works exactly the same for casting ornaments. Same shine, same detail, same durability. The only difference? It’s got about 60% less fossil fuel content than traditional resin. That’s a big deal, especially when you’re talking about volume – we make 100k+ ornaments a year, so that cuts our fossil use by a ton.
But let’s not sugarcoat it: resin, even plant-based, is still technically a plastic. So when it’s time to toss it – either by accident when a kid drops it, or because you’re redecorating – what happens? I did a test last year with a local sustainability lab, because I was tired of guessing. We split a batch of old ornaments: one group was petroleum resin, one was our plant-based resin, one was glass. We left them in a landfill simulation (wet, dark, no oxygen) for 6 months. The petroleum resin barely changed shape, just got a little yellow. The plant-based resin broke down into small, crumbly pieces – not like food, but not hard plastic. The glass? It was exactly the same. Wait, but another test: when we left them out in a sunny, open area (like if you leave an ornament by the road after a move), the plant-based resin broke down way faster than petroleum. We left a chunk out for a year, and it was almost half gone, while the petroleum chunk was still solid. That’s a win, right?
Now, compare that to other common Christmas ornaments. Let’s take glass, for example – everyone thinks glass is the “eco” pick. But glass is super heavy. When you ship a box of 100 glass ornaments, that box weighs like 15 pounds. A box of the same number of resin ornaments? 7 pounds. So shipping emissions are way lower with resin. Also, glass shatters – every year, I get at least 5 emails from customers who accidentally knocked over their tree and lost half their glass ornaments. Those shards go straight to the landfill, and glass takes like 1 million years to break down. We’ve had customers tell us their resin ornaments have lasted 12, 15 years – way longer than the cheap glass ones that last 2 or 3 before breaking. That’s longevity, which is a huge part of being eco-friendly. The EPA says that products that last longer reduce overall waste because you don’t have to replace them as often. That makes sense, right?
But wait, I can’t ignore the bad stuff. When we cast these ornaments, we use molds – most of ours are silicone, which is reusable for like 500+ casts. But sometimes we have to throw away old silicone, and it is plastic, so that’s a downside. Also, the paints we use for the details – the red, green, gold, white paint on the ornaments. A few years ago, we were using cheap acrylic paint that had lead traces, but we switched to non-toxic, water-based paint that’s certified safe for kids and pets. That was a big investment – it cost us 30% more for the paint – but it was non-negotiable, especially since so many of our clients are for families with little ones. Also, when we’re cleaning our casting equipment, we used to use harsh chemicals, but now we use isopropyl alcohol that’s biodegradable, and we filter and reuse the water we clean parts with. That’s another small step that adds up.
Let’s also talk about waste from my side, as a supplier. A lot of people don’t think about the manufacturing waste, but it’s real. When we cast ornaments, sometimes we get little “flash” – excess resin that drips over the mold edge. We used to throw that away, but now we melt that flash down and recast it. We can get about 10% of our resin back that way, so we’re not wasting it. Also, all our packaging – we used to use plastic bubble wrap, now we use 100% recycled cardboard and biodegradable paper padding. No plastic at all in the shipping boxes. That’s a big change we made in 2022, and it’s cost us a little more, but our customers love it, and we’ve gotten way fewer complaints about broken ornaments (turns out paper padding works just as well as bubble wrap for resin, which is surprisingly durable).
But here’s the thing: I’ve seen a lot of blog posts and Instagram reels that say resin ornaments are either the worst thing ever or the perfect eco pick, and that’s garbage. There’s no one-size-fits-all. If you’re buying a cheap resin ornament from Amazon that costs a dollar, that’s probably made with cheap petroleum resin, painted with toxic stuff, and will break after one season. That’s not eco-friendly at all – that’s just cheap plastic. But if you’re buying a well-made resin ornament from a supplier that uses plant-based resin, non-toxic paint, reuses materials, and has packaging that’s not plastic? That’s a way better pick than glass, way better than cheap plastic, and even better than some wood ornaments if you consider shipping weight (wood is heavy, too). Wait, let’s test that wood thing. A friend of mine sells wooden ornaments – their packaging for 100 ornaments is 12 pounds, so heavier than resin, and wood is often sourced from unsustainable tree farms, or it’s just leftover lumber that’s not even going to be used for anything else. So it’s kind of a toss-up, but resin is right there in the middle.
I also want to talk about something personal. Last year, a customer reached out to me saying she had a box of resin ornaments from 2010, when I first started the business. She said she had a kid with asthma, and she was worried the old ones had chemicals, so she sent them back to me. I tested them, and they had zero toxic chemicals, because even back then I was using the better resin, but I still gave her a full refund, no questions asked. That’s the kind of stuff that matters to me – not just making a sale, but making products that are safe and don’t hurt people or the planet.
Another point: recyclability. Can you recycle resin ornaments? Here’s the thing – most curbside recycling programs don’t take plastic ornaments, because they’re small, hard to sort, and can get stuck in sorting machines. But that’s true for a lot of holiday decor, including glass ornaments. The good news is, there are specialty recycling programs for holiday decor now. Last year, I partnered with a local program that takes old resin ornaments, melts them down, and makes new molding material. So I set up a drop-off spot for customers in my area, and we’ve collected over 5,000 ornaments in a year. If you can’t find a local program, just send them back to me – I offer a free mail-in label for any customers who want to recycle their old ornaments with us. That’s something I started because I was tired of hearing people say they have a pile of old ornaments they don’t know what to do with.
Wait, but let’s address the counterarguments. Some environmentalists say that even plant-based resin still has carbon emissions when it’s made. That’s true – resin production does emit CO2. But let’s compare that to glass: making glass uses way more energy, like 2x more energy than resin, according to a 2021 study from the Packaging Institute. So even with resin’s emissions, it’s lower than glass. And wood? If it’s sustainably sourced, wood is carbon-neutral, but only if it’s FSC-certified, which a lot of cheap wooden ornaments aren’t. So that’s a big “if.”
Here’s the bottom line, based on what I’ve seen as a supplier and what the data says: Are Christmas resin ornaments eco-friendly? The short answer is, it depends on who made them and how they’re used. If they’re well-made from plant-based resin, non-toxic paints, packaged without plastic, and built to last for years? Way more eco-friendly than the alternatives. If they’re cheap, petroleum-based, made with toxic stuff, and built to break after one season? Absolutely not.
I get why people are confused. Every year, there’s a new “holiday eco pick” that everyone swears is the best, and it usually turns out to be overhyped. But with resin, it’s not a hype thing – it’s a matter of choosing the right ones. We’ve been working on our process for years, cutting waste, switching to better materials, because my goal isn’t just to sell ornaments – it’s to make something that people can hang on their tree for a decade, and not feel guilty about it.
If you’re a buyer, let me give you a tip: when you’re looking at resin ornaments, check the materials. If the supplier says “petroleum-based resin,” run. If they say “plant-based resin,” “non-toxic paint,” “reusable packaging,” that’s a good sign. If you’re wondering about shipping emissions, ask how much their packaging weighs – if it’s lighter than glass or wood, that’s a win.
For anyone still on the fence, I’d say this: last year, I donated 500 of our resin ornaments to a local shelter for kids who don’t have Christmas trees. A month later, the coordinator sent me a photo of a little girl hugging her tree, and one of our ornaments on it. She said it was the first thing the kid had ever kept from a Christmas – she’d dropped all the other ornaments, but hers didn’t break. That’s the kind of thing that makes all the work worth it. Resin isn’t perfect, but it’s better than a lot of other options out there, when it’s made right.
If you’re a retailer, event planner, or just someone who wants to stock up on ornaments for your family and make sure they’re as eco as possible, hit me up. We do bulk orders, custom designs, and we’re always happy to answer questions about our materials or our process. No pushy sales stuff, just real answers about what we stand for. So if you want to talk, reach out whenever. Let’s make this holiday season a little greener, one ornament at a time.
Resin Keychains References
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (2022). Reducing and Preventing Waste: Holiday Decor and Gifts.
- Packaging Institute. (2021). Life Cycle Comparison of Common Holiday Decor Materials: Resin vs. Glass vs. Wood.
- Sustainable Packaging Coalition. (2023). Biodegradable Resin Performance Testing for Consumer Goods.
- Local Sustainability Lab. (2022). Landfill and Outdoor Degradation Testing for Holiday Ornaments.
Shengzhou Shengteng Accessories Co., Ltd.
Address: Room 701, Building 23, Wanyang Innovation City, No. 368 Kaiya Road, Changle Town, Shengzhou City, Shaoxing City, Zhejiang Province
E-mail: 15869252296@163.com
WebSite: https://www.shengtengjewelry.com/
