Alarming Christmas Waste Statistics and How you Can Have a Zero Waste Christmas
There are loads of posts all over social media at this time of year, helping us have a less wasteful Christmas.
Some of the statistics surrounding Christmas waste are astonishing. According to Wildlife and Countryside link, around 114,000 tonnes of plastic packaging will be thrown away and not recycled in the UK this Christmas. Finder tell us that over 21 million people receive at least one unwanted gift each Christmas. And worse still, a small percentage of those (around 5%) will be thrown away – they won’t even be regifted, sold or given to charity!
And what about the food? Well over four million Christmas dinners are thrown away every year – that’s equivalent to 263,000 turkeys, 7.5 million mince pies, 740,000 portions of Christmas pudding and 11.3 million roast potatoes. Thankfully, we have a resident Food Waste Warrior here at Zero Waste Towers. Find out how Anna got 105 portions from her 8 1/2 kg Christmas turkey last year! And if you want more ideas for reducing food waste throughout the year, grab a signed copy of her book which includes 101 recipes for using up leftovers.
But one of the forms of waste which really frustrates me is wrapping paper. So much so I’m right behind Zero Waste Week Ambassador, Zoe’s latest campaign #CutTheWrap. Zoe is asking people to join in and sign her pledge which you can do here.
Why is reducing wrapping paper so important? Well Defra estimates that enough paper is used each year to gift-wrap the island of Guernsey. Zoe’s research is more alarming, she says “So much wrapping paper is bought in the UK that in 2013 it was reported it would be long enough to stretch to the moon.”
Whichever statistic is right, it’s a waste right? Especially when wrapping paper is used for such a short period of time. And so much of it can’t be recycled because it has glitter on it or is foil based.
There are so many alternatives including furoshiki, reusable gift bags, vintage tins, tea towels and scarves. If all that sounds overwhelming, Zoe is on hand to help. Next week she’ll be blogging about lots of alternatives, which will leave you inspired and ready to #CutTheWrap! Be sure to follow her blog starting 25th November.
And in the meantime, if you’re looking for Zero Waste Christmas gift inspiration, here’s an infographic which you are free to share in its entirety on your blog or social media channels, showing 12 waste free gifts that your recipient will love!
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[…] mince pies! While going zero waste this Christmas is not impossible (and if you’re interested here is a how to) it is perhaps unrealistic to expect everyone to quit cold turkey and do […]
[…] four million plates worth of Christmas dinners are thrown away every year, equivalent to 263,000 turkeys, 7.5 […]
[…] Grande-Bretagne jette quantités obscènes de papier d’emballage et le plastique, le papier d’aluminium, les paillettes et le ruban adhésif sur de nombreuses […]
[…] UK throws away obscene amounts of wrapping paper and the plastic, foil, glitter and sticky tape on many sheets makes them unrecyclable. Furoshiki, a […]
[…] The equivalent of more than four million Christmas dinners are thrown away each year in the UK, according to consultancy Zero Waste Week. […]
[…] The equivalent of more than four million Christmas dinners are thrown away each year in the UK, according to consultancy Zero Waste Week. […]
[…] The equivalent of more than four million Christmas dinners are thrown away each year in the UK, according to consultancy Zero Waste Week. […]
[…] The equivalent of more than four million Christmas dinners are thrown away each year in the UK, according to consultancy Zero Waste Week. […]
[…] The equivalent of more than four million Christmas dinners are thrown away each year in the UK, according to consultancy Zero Waste Week. […]
[…] The equivalent of more than four million Christmas dinners are thrown away each year in the UK, according to consultancy Zero Waste Week. […]
[…] The equivalent of more than four million Christmas dinners are thrown away each year in the UK, according to consultancy Zero Waste Week. […]
[…] The equivalent of more than four million Christmas dinners are thrown away each year in the UK, according to consultancy Zero Waste Week. […]
[…] The equivalent of more than four million Christmas dinners are thrown away each year in the UK, according to consultancy Zero Waste Week. […]
[…] The equivalent of more than four million Christmas dinners are thrown away each year in the UK, according to consultancy Zero Waste Week. […]
[…] The equivalent of more than four million Christmas dinners are thrown away each year in the UK, according to consultancy Zero Waste Week. […]
[…] The equivalent of more than four million Christmas dinners are thrown away each year in the UK, according to consultancy Zero Waste Week. […]
[…] The equivalent of more than four million Christmas dinners are thrown away each year in the UK, according to consultancy Zero Waste Week. […]
[…] The equivalent of more than four million Christmas dinners are thrown away each year in the UK, according to consultancy Zero Waste Week. […]
[…] Christmas can be many people’s favourite time of the year, it is also an incredibly wasteful time with some statistics suggesting 114,000 tonnes of plastic packaging, 4 million Christmas dinners […]
[…] The equivalent of more than four million Christmas dinners are thrown away each year in the UK, according to consultancy Zero Waste Week. […]
[…] UK throws away obscene amounts of wrapping paper and the plastic, foil, glitter and sticky tape on many sheets makes them unrecyclable. Furoshiki, a […]
[…] plastic packaging is thrown away and not recycled on a yearly basis, not to mention to shocking 4 million Christmas dinners that end up in the bin! (definitely not something that happens in our […]
[…] all love a bit of festive food, right? But tons of food is thrown away every Christmas, the equivalent of four million Christmas dinners! Crazy right? And so wasteful, both in terms of […]
[…] four million festive meals each year. According to Zero Waste Week, that’s the equivalent of over 263,000 turkeys, 7.5 million mince pies, 740,000 portions of Christmas pudding, and 11.3 million roa…. Food for thought next time you’re tucking into your […]
[…] wrapped in plastic packaging, whether that’s toys, makeup, toiletries or even clothes. But around 114,000 tonnes of plastic packaging is thrown away and not recycled in the UK each Christmas, which is a horrendous waste. Plastic […]
Me and my class are doing a project for a future city, and were basing it off Cairo, Egypt. We think that giving the extra food to people in poverty would be nice and we wouldn’t have all this extra food!
[…] over-cook and over-indulge because ‘it’s the season’. In fact, it’s estimated around four million Christmas dinners go to waste in the UK each […]
[…] Christmas involving lots of preparation, high expectations and huge quantities of food being made. It is estimated that over four million Christmas dinners gets thrown in the bin every year. Being more mindful of […]
[…] of food and treat ourselves to all the luxurious treats they have in store, and sadly a lot of it ends up getting wasted and thrown […]
[…] as a nation, we typically throw away over 4 million Christmas dinners every year. That includes around 2 million […]
[…] fact, some of the waste statistics around Christmas would knock your socks off. For example, around 114,000 tonnes of plastic packaging will be thrown away and not recycled in the UK this Christmas (yikes). And […]
[…] UK throws away obscene amounts of wrapping paper and the plastic, foil, glitter and sticky tape on many sheets makes them unrecyclable. Furoshiki, a […]
[…] UK throws away obscene amounts of wrapping paper and the plastic, foil, glitter and sticky tape on many sheets makes them unrecyclable. Furoshiki, a […]
[…] Sources: 1. https://lbre.stanford.edu/pssistanford-recycling/frequently-asked-questions/frequently-asked-questions-holiday-waste-prevention 2. https://247wallst.com/consumer-products/2018/12/27/americans-throw-out-30-million-christmas-trees/ 3. https://www.pickyourownchristmastree.org/christmas_tree_statistics.php 4. https://www.businesswaste.co.uk/christmas-waste-facts-its-not-very-jolly/ 5. https://shop.tokki.com/blogs/tokkigifting/is-wrapping-paper-recyclable-the-truth-might-surprise-you#:~:text=Each%20year%20Americans%20alone%20use,a%20desolate%20wasteland%20of%20trash. 6. https://www.zerowasteweek.co.uk/zero-waste-christmas/ […]
[…] to zerowasteweek.uk, “114,000 tonnes of plastic packaging will be thrown away and not recycled in the UK […]