Bensley+Go+Fix+It

Many aspects of the holiday season are related to pressing sustainability problems.

With the holiday season upon us, it is important to remember that the choices we make this month should be decided with at least as much environmental care as at any other time of the year. Several aspects of the holiday season—travel, gift-giving, card-sending, household waste, and Christmas trees, in particular—increase our environmental impact and should be considered with care. However, there are several simple interventions that may be used to counteract these problems. Travelling to visit family and friends is an integral part of the holiday season. However, the long drives it often involves place a significant burden on the environment. According to conservation website Use Less Stuff, if every family in the United States were to reduce its holiday fuel consumption by about just //one// gallon, greenhouse gas emissions would be decreased by a million tons. Giving gifts is also a major contributor to waste. Not only can gifts be made more sustainable by hand-making them, but giving antiques and collectibles is a great way to give something meaningful without needing to purchase new products, eliminating the need for increased production. Additionally, newer items tend to be electronic, which require environmentally-destructive batteries to operate. The EPA estimates that approximately 40% of battery sales occur during the holiday season. Furthermore, gifts can be wrapped in cloth or other reusable material. If every American family wrapped just three gifts in reused material, it could save enough wrapping material to cover 45,000 football fields.ii If every family also reused two feet of ribbon, it would save enough material to tie a bowtie around the Earth—about 38,000 miles.i In a similar vein to gift-giving, sending holiday cards uses enormous amounts a paper. Americans purchase over 2.5 billion Christmas cards every year, enough to fill a football field over 100 feet high. Sending one less card per person would save about 50,000 cubic yards of paper.i Sending an electronic card, or simply calling loved ones to wish them a merry Christmas, is a great alternative. General conservation during the holiday season is also important to remember. The EPA estimates that between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, household waste goes up by over 25%. This is a result of food waste, packing material, gift wrapping, and many others, and results in an extra million tons per week in America’s landfills.i Finally, Christmas trees are an important tradition in Western culture. It is important to remember, however, the impact of about 50 million trees being cut down each year for this purpose, as well as the plastic trees that are often used. About 30 million of these trees end up in landfill, according to the Environmental News Network.i When purchasing trees, one should be aware of the sustainability of the tree farm it comes from. People should be purchasing from farms that are not expanding into natural forests, and make a conscious effort not to disturb local wildlife. Many tree farms also are willing to take used trees, mulch them, and use them to fertilize the land for future trees. Plastic trees are often seen as an alternative to cutting down living ones. However, one should be aware that these trees are usually made of polyvinyl chloride, or PVC.  This material can persist in the environment for hundreds of years, and has many harmful effects. When making choices this holiday season, it is important to be aware of one’s environmental impact. Keep in mind the Native American proverb that “we do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children.” This year, consider the environment your gift to generations yet unborn.

 []  []  Cygnus Group via []  []  []  //Blue Vinyl// film

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