Christmas is a time known for indulging. Food, drink, gifts, wrapping paper, cards and so much more are purchased in excess and, the sad thing is a lot of it goes to waste. According to official data, we create around 30% more waste at Christmas than at any other time of the year.
We have taken two of the biggest Christmas waste creators – food and gifting – and found ways you can cut back and be more environment-friendly this Christmas…
Food
It’s not Christmas Day without a feast fit for a king, but this is where a lot of waste comes from. It is so easy to get carried away when doing the all-important Christmas Day food shop because of course, you need every cheese that ever existed, the biggest turkey you can find and what about the Christmas pudding!?
There are a few ways you can reduce your waste and environmental impact this year. For example, why not only buying what you need? Think realistically about how much you will eat and buy only that. You could even try having a meatless Christmas. As we all know farming has some pretty devastating effects on the environment. Why not try doing your bit this year and swap your turkey for a nut roast?
Gifting
Gifting is a big part of the festive season, starting from the shopping process, to wrapping and placing it under the tree and watching people faces as they open them on Christmas morning – the day wouldn’t quite be the same without it.
Physical gifts can be the cause of a lot of festive waste. From wrapping paper and cards to unwanted gifts with al their packaging, the majority of which can’t be recycled and are instead dumped in landfill. There are ways to avoid this, however, for example, you could swap out your foiled, sparkly wrapping paper for brown paper or even news or magazine pages and decorate with holly or eucalyptus. When it comes to the gift itself, you could opt for an experience instead of a physical present. Not only will this reduce waste, but it will also become a lasting memory for the receiver.
Online travel deal provider; Travelzoo commissioned a survey to find out how people in the UK feel about the waste we create at Christmas, and how they plan to reduce their input. Take a look below…
Provided by Travelzoo
