The holidays are a time for indulgence and festivity, but the environmental costs of our seasonal habits—often invisible in the moment—add up in surprising ways. According to Stanford University's Waste Reduction, Recycling, Composting and Solid Waste Program, household waste increases by more than 25% from Thanksgiving to New Year’s. This means an additional 1 million tons of trash enters landfills each week during this time frame. Let’s unpack some of the causes of this waste and strategies that can be used to lessen the environmental impact of the holidays.
Environmental Impact of Gifts
Gifts are by far the biggest contributor to the environmental impact of the holidays due to the emissions associated with manufacturing, wrapping, and returning them. About 8,000 tons of wrapping paper, the equivalent of about 50,000 trees, is used to wrap gifts each year, according to the Clean Air Partnership, a nonprofit environmental organization. This is an absolutely staggering amount.
The process of returning gifts is also environmentally unfriendly. The Environmental Capital Group estimates that the shipping process for returned holiday gifts emits around 16 million metric tons of carbon dioxide a year. Additionally, about 5.8 billion pounds of returned inventory just ends up in landfills, unused. To add to this waste, about 2.65 billion holiday cards are sold each year in the U.S.—that amount could fill a football field 10 stories high, and the majority of these cards also end up in the landfill.
Reducing the Impact of Gifts
One strategy to reduce waste is to use recycled wrapping paper, and wrap gifts in things like old magazines, newspapers, and maps. According to Stanford, if every American family wrapped just three presents in reused materials, it would save enough paper to cover 45,000 football fields. A similar strategy is to wrap gifts in reusable, useful items, such as tea towels and bandanas.
Finally, buying secondhand gifts is a great way to reduce your environmental impact. By buying secondhand, you can prevent items from going to landfills, and save resources that would be used to produce a brand-new item. Buying secondhand can also be more economical, and reduce the overall cost of gifts.
Environmental Impact of Travel
Transportation is the number one source of carbon dioxide emissions associated with the holidays. Aside from the carbon dioxide emitted by planes, the nitrogen oxides emitted from planes form contrails and clouds at high altitude, trapping heat that radiates from the earth below. This causes a warming effect twice as powerful as that of carbon dioxide.
Reducing the Impact of Travel
Obviously, it's unreasonable not to travel at all during the holidays, but there are strategies you can use to lower your overall carbon footprint. Since driving is less impactful than air travel, and bus and train travel is less impactful than driving, consider using one of these methods of transportation rather than flying. In addition, try to “stack” visits to loved ones: Kate White, associate at the University of British Columbia's Sauder School of Business, says "If you're going to go visit one family or one set of friends, go visit everyone on the same trip. Don't make three or four trips."
These small changes can have big positive impacts. According to the Clean Air Partnership, if each family in the U.S. reduced gas consumption by 1 gallon, or opted to drive 20 miles less, it could lead to 1 million tons of reduced greenhouse gas emissions.
During this holiday season, consider making a gift to our planet by considering ways that you can lessen your individual impact. Small choices add up, and every action matters in the path to a more sustainable future.
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Picture Source: https://www.pexels.com/photo/several-gift-boxes-1666069/
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