Christmas is a wonderful time of year – a time to spend with family and loved ones, but did you know it’s also the most wasteful time of year, with Aussie’s increasing their waste outputs by up to 30% on any other period? As the festive season approaches, the joy of Christmas is often accompanied by a surge in waste generation. From excessive packaging to discarded decorations, the environmental toll of this holiday can be significant. In this article, we’ll delve into the various aspects of Christmas waste, providing eye-opening statistics and practical tips to make your celebrations more eco-friendly.
What Do We Waste at Christmas?
The most common items to be thrown in the bin are food, wrapping paper, unwanted gifts, cardboard and plastic packaging.
Read on as we share some scary statistics from these waste categories, and share some tips about how you can do better, but still enjoy yourself this festive season.
Food Waste Statistics
The abundance of festive meals often results in a significant amount of food waste. Unused or spoiled ingredients, leftovers, and discarded food items contribute to this waste.
Food waste is a major environmental and social justice concern over the Christmas season as methane, a harmful greenhouse gas 25 times more powerful than carbon dioxide, is released when food waste rots in a landfill. Additionally, it’s in bad taste to waste so much when others are going without, and in 2023 people are doing it tough all over. Foodbank is now reporting over 2 million households in Australia are now struggling to put food on the table to eat.
3 Tips to Reduce Food Waste this Christmas
1. Only buy what you need and do not get sucked into supermarket promotions
2. Choose seasonable vegetables and compost what you don’t use
3. Remember to take your reusable shopping bags with you when completing your food shop
Food and Drink Packaging Waste
Typically, Christmas merchandise is packaged in plastic. Fracking fossil fuels, the primary cause of climate change and a significant contributor to water pollution, produces plastic. When the wind blows this packaging out of landfills or during waste disposal, it may finish up in the ocean. The production of foil and glass has a large carbon footprint as well.
3 Tips to Reduce Food and Drink Packaging Waste this Christmas
- Use local businesses, like butchers, bakers and greengrocers who use less plastic.
- Hire reusable plastic cups and plates for parties if your regular serving ware wont stretch to the number of guests you have or consider bamboo servingware that is disposable but biodegradable and from a replenishable source.
Buy recycled foil for cooking.
General Waste at Christmas
On Christmas Day, common customs like gift-giving, advent calendars, Christmas crackers, and festive décor usually lead to massive trash. Because of fracking and deforestation, the earth’s resources are becoming increasingly scarce with each new product. They can be difficult to recycle because of the mixture of components, and after a brief time of usage, they wind up in landfills or incinerators.
3 Tips to Reduce General Waste this Christmas
1. Use reusable Christmas crackers and advent calendars.
2. Choose gifts that are zero waste or have recycled packaging. Not sure what to buy, check our gift guide this christmas!
3. Try to reuse and recycled instead of throwing packaging and decor in the bin.
Increased Energy Use over Christmas
Every household’s carbon footprint goes up during the holidays as a result of increased travel, electricity use, and goods purchases. Since carbon dioxide is one of the greenhouse gases creating the climate problem, it is our collective duty, to the extent that we are able, to lessen our own impact on the issue. You can save money by lowering your carbon footprint, so if money is tight for you, you may already be taking these steps.
3 Tips to reduce your Carbon Footprint this Holiday
- Use public transport or car share when travelling to see loved ones.
- Switch to a renewable energy supplier than doesn’t use coal. Most energy suppliers mislead customers by having one “green” tariff but their total renewable energy as a company is less than 9%.
- Choose LED or solar-powered lighting and put electric lights on a timer to reduce your electricity bill.
Christmas Wrapping Waste
The majority of gift wrap found in high-end stores is composed of low-quality fibers that have been painted, glittered, and coated with plastic, making recycling it nearly impossible. Though there are now more options without plastic, cutting down trees to make single-use items like wrapping paper is not sustainable when there are so many other options. Did you know that the Average Australians uses over 8m of gift wrap every christmas, so around 150,000 km, enough to circumnavigate the globe 4 times? Imagine the waste we could prevent if we stopped that alone.
3 Ways to Reduce your Wrapping Paper Contribution this year
- Try furoshiki gift wrapping using fabric.
- Opt for 100% recycled wrapping paper if you don’t want to buy reusable with paper sticky tape.
- Open your presents careful and reuse the wrapping paper and gift bags the following year.
Christmas Card Waste
Many people, especially those in older generations, still find satisfaction in the custom of sending Christmas cards. Even though there are many alternatives without plastic, some high-street retailers continue to wrap individual cards in plastic wrap. Unfortunately, many cards still include foil or plastic glitter, making them unsuitable for recycling.
3 Tips to Reduce the Impact of Christmas Cards this year
- Send an e-card instead.
- Make DIY cards out of your children’s artwork.
- Choose cards made from recycled material (with no glitter or foil).
We hope you’ve enjoyed reading about ideas and if you have any others, feel free to drop them in the comments below. This Christmas, let’s strive for a holiday season that brings joy without compromising the well-being of our planet. By understanding the impact of Christmas waste and adopting eco-friendly practices, we can collectively contribute to a more sustainable and mindful celebration.
