Understanding Eco Christmas

Christmas is a time for giving and getting together, but it’s also a time when CO2 emissions and packaging waste skyrockets.

For example, our combined Christmas dinners produce the same carbon footprint as a single car travelling 6,000 times around the world. On average, every UK household throws away 3 and a half black bags full of festive packaging every Christmas. Likewise, it’s estimated that 160,000 tonnes of trees are dumped (not recycled) after every Christmas in the UK.

These are pretty sobering stats, right?

We want to be able to have joyful Christmases without also hurting the environment. So, how can we do that? 

Christmas & the climate

It’s no secret by this point that we have to make some changes if we’re going to help the climate crisis. Christmas obviously isn’t the only time of year that our actions have an effect on the climate, but it’s certainly an uptick in our usual activity. 

Making choices to eat plant-based meals, avoid single-use plastic, and take public transport over driving can all help you reduce your impact on the environment, so why should Christmas be any different?

We get through 125,000 tonnes of plastic packaging during the Christmas season (the equivalent weight of the Statue of Liberty 5 times over). To put it into perspective, the UK produced 2.5 million tonnes of plastic packaging waste in 2021; 5 percent of that number is from the Christmas season alone.

If we all take time to think responsibly this Christmas, swapping our usual habits for some more sustainable ones, who knows how many emissions we can save and how many extra tonnes of waste we can stop from entering landfills?

What can you do?

Trying to tackle climate change is a year-round effort, but that doesn’t mean that small actions go unnoticed. Whether you’ve made big changes in your life to help the planet or whether you’re just at the start of your journey, we’ve put together some things you can do with us to reduce your CO2 emissions and reduce waste this Christmas.

Find all of these pledges on the onHand app and give them a go! 

🎄 Sustainable Gifts

Buy second-hand or make your own gifts.

Let's ditch the packaging and extra waste this year and try gifting in a different, more sustainable way! Whether you’re buying second-hand or doing a DIY Christmas, it’s so rewarding to be creative and thoughtful when it comes to buying gifts.

🎄 Meat-Free Christmas

Pledge to eat meat-free this Christmas.

Refusing to eat meat over the festive period is a real challenge, but refusing meat at Christmas is going to make a huge difference to your carbon footprint. Or if you don’t think you can cut out meat completely, try reducing your intake! 

🎄 Recycling Hero

Use recyclable wrapping paper for presents.

We throw away an estimated 227,000 miles of wrapping paper every Christmas in the UK. Make the effort this year to use recyclable wrapping paper for your gifts, so that we can reduce the amount of waste just from packaging! 

🎄 Christmas Tree Hugger

Buy a potted Christmas tree and replant after.

If grown responsibly and sustainably, real Christmas trees can have a very low carbon footprint. In some cases, 10 trees are planted for every 1 that's cut down. You’d need to re-use an artificial tree 10 times to negate its carbon footprint, but on average artificial trees are used only 4 times before being thrown away.

If you already have a plastic tree, keep using it! Using what you already have is much better than buying anything new. And if you can't repot a real tree in your garden, make sure you dispose of it responsibly 💚

🎄 Sustainable Secret Santa

Do a pre-loved or handmade secret santa at work or with friends.

Let's ditch the packaging and extra waste this year and try gifting in a different, more sustainable way! Whether you’re buying second-hand or doing a DIY Christmas, add a bit of fun and creativity to your Secret Santa this year. 

🎄 (Not) Driving Home For Christmas

Pledge to swap a car journey for a train this holiday season.

Last year, more than 5 million car journeys happened on Christmas Day alone – that’s a lot of CO2e created. If you can, pack up those presents and pledge to swap a car journey for a train journey. Let's all have a more sustainable Christmas! 

You go, hero 🦸

Going meat-free for your Christmas dinner is better than not trying at all. Using recyclable wrapping paper is better than wrapping in plastic. We want to help you make an impossible-sounding task possible – and not just possible, we’re making doing good fun!

So don’t be afraid to get stuck in and try your best! After all, we all start somewhere... 

And if you want to get your journey going, we’re here to help you too: beonhand.co.uk/book-a-demo.