Regardless
of how it's celebrated, Christmas is more often than not about consumption |
Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP via Getty Images
How
Christmas is ruining the planet
Environmentalists
call Christmas the world’s greatest annual environmental disaster.
By ELINE
SCHAART 12/23/19, 9:00 AM CET Updated 12/25/19, 8:24 AM CET
For many
it's a jolly time to spend with loved ones, eating heaps of food and exchanging
gifts — but some green groups are saying humbug! to Christmas, calling it the
"world's greatest annual environmental disaster."
Christmas
is celebrated across the Continent in many different forms: In Sweden
celebrations kick off on December 13 with Santa Lucia while in Spain Christmas
starts with the El Gordo (the big one) lottery craze.
Regardless
of how it's celebrated, Christmas is more often than not about consumption.
The average
household in eight surveyed European countries splurged €445 in 2017 on food
and drinks as well as gifts — with the U.K. topping the list with €639, while
the Dutch spent the least at €341.
Here are
five ways in which the holiday is ruining the planet.
1.
Mountains of waste
Every
Christmas, the amount of waste produced in the U.K. increases 30 percent,
according to a study by waste management company Biffa. That includes an estimated
365,000 kilometers of unrecyclable wrapping paper — enough to wrap around the
equator nine times — and 1 billion cards that end up in the bin.
Environmental
group Hubbub warned that an estimated 12 million Christmas sweaters were set to
be snapped up this year by Britons — despite 65 million already hanging in U.K.
wardrobes.
"The
Christmas jumper is one of the worst examples of fast fashion, with two out of
five jumpers only being worn once over the festive period," said Sarah
Divall, project coordinator at the charity.
Besides
adding to huge levels of waste, the research by Hubbub also highlighted that
most new sweaters contain plastic. Its analysis of 108 garments on sale this
year from 11 retailers found that 95 percent of the jumpers were made wholly or
partly of plastic materials.
On average
in the UK, it's 365,000 kilometers of unrecyclable wrapping paper and 1 billion
cards that end up in the bin at Christmas | Kena Betancur/Getty Images
2.
Controversial Christmas trees
Real or fake
is an evergreen dilemma.
According
to Carbon Trust, a real Christmas tree has a “significantly lower” carbon
footprint than an artificial tree, especially if it is disposed of properly.
The organization calculated that a natural 2-meter-tall Christmas tree that is
disposed of into a landfill has a footprint of around 16 kilograms of CO2,
thanks to methane emissions as it rots. A tree that is disposed of by burning,
replanting or chipping it has a footprint of around 3.5kg of CO2.
The
organizationCarbon Trust calculated that a natural 2-meter-tall Christmas tree
that is disposed of into a landfill has a footprint of around 16 kilograms of
CO2 | Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images
A 2-meter
Christmas tree made from plastic, on the other hand, has a carbon footprint of
around 40kg of CO2 due to the energy-intensive production processes, while a
real pine or fir tree naturally absorbs CO2 and releases oxygen before it's
chopped down. This means that owners of an artificial tree need to use it for
at least a decade in order for its environmental impact to equal that of
responsibly disposed natural trees.
3.
Dangerous gifts
Most of the
toys children will be playing with under the Christmas tree are made in China.
In 2017,
the EU imported almost €7.4 billion of toys, while exporting only about €1.4
billion. According to Eurostat, 86 percent of these toys came from China.
However,
some of these products can contain unsafe levels of banned chemicals. National
officials have blocked 248 types of toys from sale in the EU this year
(amounting to tens of millions of units) after tests found illegal levels of
toxic chemicals.
Most of
these problem items (88 percent) were shipped from China, according to an
assessment of data from the EU’s Rapex alert system published by the European
Environmental Bureau (EEB), an NGO. Fifty-one percent of the products contained
phthalates, a plastic additive that's classified as an endocrine disrupting
chemical.
In 2017,
the EU imported almost €7.4 billion of toys, while exporting only about €1.4
billion. According to Eurostat, 86 percent of these toys came from China | Oli
Scarff/Getty Images
Last year,
the Swedish Chemicals Agency tested 106 products from non-EU online retailers
and found prohibited substances, such as lead, phthalates and cadmium, in 40 of
them. In a similar study conducted in 2016, the agency found that 2 percent of
the 44 surveyed sex toys imported to Sweden contained banned chemicals.
EEB
chemical policy manager Tatiana Santos said that government officials are
facing a "flood" of dangerously contaminated Chinese toys.
"Where inspectors get the resources they need, they do a great job. But we
wonder how many go undetected," she said.
4. Turkey
dinner
The biggest
environmental impact of Christmas dinner comes from meat, according to
Christian Reynolds, who researches the environmental impact of roast dinners at
the University of Sheffield.
The choice
of meat, however, can account for as much as 70 percent of the environmental
impact of an entire meal — with turkey having a lower carbon footprint than
beef or lamb (and vegetarian options even lower than that).
For
example, a kilogram of beef or lamb protein can generate from 643 kilograms to
749 kilograms of carbon dioxide — resulting in more greenhouse gas emissions
than a passenger flying from London to New York. A Manchester University study
found that an average turkey Christmas dinner has a carbon footprint of 20kg of
CO2.
Maybe it's
time to go Polish? The main dish on Polish tables for Christmas Eve is carp,
and a U.N. study finds that those mud-dwelling fish have a carbon footprint of
less than 2kg of CO2 per kilogram of flesh.
There's
also the issue of food waste.
Approximately
2 million turkeys, 74 million mince pies and 17.2 million Brussels sprouts are
thrown away in the U.K. every Christmas, according to a study from Biffa.
The biggest
environmental impact of Christmas dinner comes from meat: turkey has a lower
carbon footprint than beef or lamb | Jean-Philippe Ksiazek/AFP via Getty Images
5. Flying
home for Christmas
Over 250
million Europeans will be criss-crossing the Continent over the holidays to
visit family and friends, according to research by MasterCard. The average
European will travel 516 kilometers, around the distance from Paris to
Amsterdam, with nearly a quarter taking to the sky.
Those
kilometers will further add to Europe's greenhouse gas emissions and
congestion.
Aviation’s
carbon footprint has grown by 20 percent in Europe since 2005, and continues to
increase at an average of 4 percent annually. It currently accounts for about
2.5 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. If it were a country,
aviation would be the sixth-largest carbon polluter in the world, eclipsing
Germany.
The average
European will travel 516 kilometers, around the distance from Paris to
Amsterdam, with nearly a quarter taking to the sky | Attila Kisbenedek/AFP via
Getty Images
This
article is part of POLITICO’s Sustainability Pro service, which dives deep into
sustainability issues across all sectors, including: circular economy, waste
and the plastics strategy, chemicals and more. For a complimentary trial, email
pro@politico.eu mentioning Sustainability.
Authors:
Eline Schaart
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