If you hadn’t heard already (where have you been?), the team is pulling out all the stops to reduce their carbon footprint. In a bid to save on some serious emissions – with Christmas being the perfect opportunity to make a real difference.
Check out our Graphics Designer, Lindsay’s top tips for enjoying all the trappings of Christmas AND reducing waste this festive season:
Food waste
“It’s been reported that each UK household spends around £169 at Christmas on food shopping, with seven-in-10 people admitting that they buy more food than they need – including me in past years.
This year I’m going to get organised, think carefully about everything we realistically need for meals, snacking, treats etc, and try to buy loose where I can to avoid over shopping. This will include planning our leftovers and working them into new meals, sandwiches and soups. Anything that cannot be saved will find its way into the compost bin.”
Christmas decorations
“There’s lots of debate and conflicting stats over whether real or fake trees are the most sustainable. Sadly, over 6 million real trees are set to end up in landfill after Christmas, yet a 2 metre artificial tree apparently has a carbon footprint equivalent to 40kg of greenhouse gas . I’ve arrived at the conclusion that a small, pot grown tree is best, so I can bring it in at Christmas, and take care of it throughout the year ready to use again. When it comes to decorations, I’m going with homemade pom poms and garlands rather than unrecyclable plastic tinsel.”
Card, crackers and wrap
“The stats are shocking. It takes one tree to make 3,000 Christmas cards, 1 billion of which will end up in the bin. What’s more, 108 million rolls of wrapping and 40 million crackers are set to go to waste, and who knows what happens to all the cracker toys… So I’m swerving the cards and the crackers altogether this year, making my own festive hats and jokes for the table, and going for minimalistically stylish and recyclable (or better still, reusable) brown paper for gifts.”
Unwanted gifts
“Over 21 million people receive an unwanted gift at Christmas, which, apart from the gift itself, is a waste of energy taken to purchase the gift and materials used to wrap it. I have decided to stop beating around the bush and be very clear with people about what I need this Christmas. I’ve also asked some people to donate to charity instead of buying me items I don’t need. Anything unwanted or unneeded will, of course, go to the charity shop.”
Packaging
“The tonnes upon tonnes of packaging generated by toys, food, drinks and other festive purchases is beyond comprehension. But the sad thing is that it’s been reported that 6 in 10 people don’t feel guilty about it. When it comes to reducing the packaging I generate at Christmas, I’ll be looking to reduce my consumption in every way, and asking for or buying items with less packaging. I think it’s also about a change in mindset. This article, I hope, will go some way to getting people to think twice, but we simply just have to keep talking about this topic – especially during the festive season, which for many, has consumption at the very heart of it.”
If you have any smart ideas to reduce waste this Christmas, please do comment and let us know.
