In the midst of the holiday season, people are being bombarded with constant ads, pressure to buy presents, and the feeling that they need to keep up with the spending habits of society. However, during this time it is important to remember the effect your purchasing habits have on the environment.The waste you produce ends up in landfills, in the habitats of animals where it only causes harm, and the emissions from the delivery trucks bringing gifts to your door worsens the effects of global warming. Everyone needs to be mindful of the gifts they’re purchasing, the wrappings they’re using, and the unnecessary food they’re buying. Now is a time to highlight the beauty of underconsumption- only buying what is necessary and practicing as much sustainability as possible. In turn, there are many things people can do to lessen their individual footprint.
While we celebrate, it is important to understand the impact our choices have on the environment. In an article on the overconsumption surrounding Christmas, King’s College London wrote on the UK Environment Agency, which said that the amount of waste produced per household increases by 30% during the Christmas season. Similar to Christmas, the Thanksgiving holiday is surrounded with gratitude and love, but also the idea of a large Thanksgiving dinner. Many families buy far more food than they need just because of the idea of a feast. Everyone has heard of or had Thanksgiving leftovers, so it is known that they don’t last long. By the second day of turkey sandwiches, everything gets thrown out, leading to an incredible amount of food waste. So how do all of these factors affect the environment?
With the spike in purchasing from buying gifts, this also means a spike in deliveries, which leads to an increase in greenhouse gas emissions. According to Statista , 44% of purchases were made online from the end of Thanksgiving through Christmas, spiking to 82% on Cyber Monday. This increase in online shopping also increases the amount of deliveries being made, causing the amount of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere to escalate. According to Imago Earth,30% of greenhouse gas emissions come from transportation(delivery. Another 14.5% of package deliveries occur between Thanksgiving and Christmas, which is only one month.
One reason for the excessive waste during the holiday season is the use of wrapping paper. With all the gifts being given, people are buying wrapping at a rapid rate, and the majority of the time it just ends up getting thrown out. Stocking stuffers being wrapped when they don’t need too, and the excessive purchasing of different patterns is detrimental to the environment because all of the paper goes straight to the landfill after it’s ripped apart. Plastics and papers can be harmful substances if they end up in habitats and are mistaken as food.
So, there are always things to be thinking about during the holidays when it comes to reducing your footprint. Here are some innovative ways to reduce your consumption, waste, and overall carbon footprint during this festive season:
One of the biggest ways to do this is by shopping locally. Go downtown and look through the cute boutiques or small businesses to find something special to gift your loved ones. Not only is this showing support for smaller businesses, but it is also reducing online purchasing and the greenhouse gas emissions from shipping, as well as all the packaging from shipping.
Another way is to find creative ways to wrap your gifts. One thing you can do is save gift bags and cardboard boxes to reuse. An interesting thing that you can do is use things like old newspapers to wrap gifts instead of buying wrapping paper, to reduce waste.
And most importantly, finding ways to reuse what you have to reduce your consumption. For example, reusing your holiday decorations like lights, blow ups, ornaments and more for as many years as you can. This will greatly reduce your household consumption and waste. Not buying unnecessary items is the ultimate goal, because it is the most effective way at reducing our footprint.
Overall, the holiday season is a joyous time full of light and laughter, but also a crucial time to be mindful of your impact on the environment and what steps you’re taking to reduce your footprint.
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