How to reduce holiday waste

Vacation is here! And join them for festivals, food, and fun. You may travel to see friends and family. You can also give a gift or send a card. You can create special recipes and decorate the inside and outside of your home. Your calendar may have parties, school events, religious events, etc. scheduled.

And with so many ads bombarding us from all sorts of media, it’s easy to feel like we need to buy “more” every year. This usually involves an increase in the amount of waste. Want to know how to reduce waste during the holidays? Keep reading to find out how.

holiday waste

Holiday celebrations are a great way to bring people together, have fun, and create a memorable event. But it costs more than just what comes out of your wallet. For example, amazingly, the following happened in the weeks between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day in the United States:

• Garbage accumulates faster: According to a study by Stanford University, Americans end up throwing away 25% more, or about 25 million tons of extra trash. Landfills that accept trash end up discharging even more trash. methanea more powerful greenhouse gas than CO2.

• Greenhouse gas emissions increase: This is mainly due to the extra travel that occurs during this time. According to AAA, 71.74 million Americans 5.84 million people drove more than 80 miles for Thanksgiving 2024 and boarded a plane for the holiday. This corresponds to 2.1% of the total. increase This will be the highest number ever since 2023.

The key is not to miss the celebration. The key is to understand the impact these celebrations have and choose ways to minimize that impact. There are many things you can do to reduce waste during the holidays, so there are many options. Choose the one that is easiest for you and do it. Feeling guilty doesn’t help. But taking action, no matter how small, really helps.

What can you do?

So how can you keep the holiday cheer alive while stepping more lightly on the planet? Let’s count the ways:

• Drive instead of fly. Flying is the most greenhouse gas-intensive form of travel, so avoid it if you can. If you are driving, choose a time when there is less traffic and try to stick to posted speed limits. A car idling in traffic burns fuel and produces emissions, but it’s not going anywhere. Lower speeds are safer, save on fuel costs, and produce fewer emissions.

• Send electronic cards instead of paper cards. hallmark, American greetingsand many smaller players make it easy to send digital greeting cards. You can connect with everyone on your list while saving money on postage, saving trees, and helping reduce the estimated greenhouse gas emissions of U.S. Postal Service deliveries. 11.7 billion pieces of mail During the 2022 holiday season.

• Think before you give a gift. When appropriate, give gifts that are more than just “stuff.” Please give me time. Take your kids on a hike through a great park, enjoy a romantic dinner with your significant other, or have a “boys night out” with your best friends. If you’re not sure what the other person wants, give them a gift certificate. You can avoid the cost of returning your gift. Donate to your favorite charity in someone’s name. Whether to donate to medical purposes such as healing heart disease or organizations such as heifer international If you’re working to increase income by providing animals and training to people in poor countries, choose a cause that resonates with the recipient.

• Decorate with LED lights and set a timer. You probably already know that LEDs use about one-tenth the power of old-fashioned (and hot!) incandescent lights. Today, lighting manufacturers offer decorative LED lights in all colors, sizes, and strand lengths. And don’t forget to set a timer to turn it off when you go to bed.

• Reuse paper and packaging. In 2024, UPS The company had planned to hire 125,000 seasonal employees to handle an expected surge in seasonal package shipments, a number that will be shipped daily for the rest of the year. It is expected to nearly double that number to 20 million parcels. And the impact of wrapping, ribboning, tagging, and shipping these packages is staggering. Purchase simple holiday boxes from places like: michaelsreuse every year. They’re cute, seasonal, come in a variety of sizes, and will keep your gift surprising until the big day. You can also wrap the gift in comics, reuse the gift bag, or hide the gift around the house to give the recipient a clue as to where the gift is. Whatever works for you, do it!

• Reduce food waste. For most people, good food, and lots of food, is an essential part of the holidays. However, it is estimated that 40% of the food grown in the United States is wasted between the farm and the consumer’s plate. And holiday food is especially easy to waste because we make too much (just in case) or create once-a-year recipes with unusual ingredients we can’t use up. You can send food home with your guests or get creative with leftovers. And of course, look for local, fresh, fair trade food whenever possible.

• Make environmentally friendly resolutions Towards 2025. Changing habits takes time. So, pick one thing to do in 2025 to make your life or business more environmentally friendly. Maybe you’re learning how to compost food scraps. Recycling efforts may be stepped up. You may be buying your first electric car. Whatever it is, set your goals now to get started in 2025.

Have a great vacation! May you maximize your support and minimize waste.

Editor’s note: This article was first published on December 11, 2015 and updated in December 2024.