Facts about waste during the Christmas - How we can prevent it NOW & in the coming years!22/12/2020 Food waste: In Europe, every year around 88 million tons of food waste is produced. EU households are responsible for more than half of the food waste (over than 44 million) . Every year at Christmas in the UK, 2 million turkeys, 5 million puddings, and 74 million mince pies get disposed while still being edible. In total, there are 270,000 tons of food waste. According to Respect Food, More than half of the Brits say that they spend more money than they should on food during Christmas time. Approximately one third admit that they have to deal with food waste more on Christmases compared to other times of the year. In the Netherlands, 1/3 of the people prefer throwing away food on Christmas rather than having a food shortage while having guests around. Half of Dutch people also buy too much food at Christmas. This is evident from research published by Nature & Environment and Rabobank. Dutch people throw away a total of 124 million euros worth of food during Christmas, according to calculations by Natuur & Milieu based on research. Ways we can prevent food waste (all information is provided by SAMEN TEGEN):
Christmas spending: According to OECD, In the US, for example, one survey estimates that the each US citizen spent USD 920 on gifts alone in 2019 and that the country as a whole spent around USD 1 trillion over the Christmas period. The Bank of England calculated that the average UK household spent an extra GBP 800 in December, with purchases of food increasing by 20%, alcohol by 30% and books by 85% over the average month. The annual Deloitte’s survey of Christmas were estimated that the average UK consumer spent GBP 567 in 2019, while the average European consumer spent an average of GBP 409. In Australia, one survey projects that the average household spent AUD 969 on Christmas in 2019, while Canadians were estimated to spend CAD 1706 in 2019. Waste produced by gifts: In 2018, we threw away 227,000 miles of wrapping paper, almost enough for us to paper our way to the moon! Due to the glitter, ribbons and plastics in the paper, most of the wrapping paper we used is not recyclable. However, there are several solutions to becoming more sustainable:
Christmas Trees (Real VS. Artificial)
The way to reduce carbon footprint According to Carbon Trust, if you burn your Christmas tree on the bonfire, plant it or have it chipped to spread on the garden, that significantly reduces the carbon footprint by up to 80% (around 3.5kg CO2e). Burning the tree emits the carbon dioxide that it stored up when it was growing so there's no net increase.
Therefore, artificial Christmas trees at home need to be re-used for at least 10 years to have a lower environmental impact than a real tree. “Even though we are aware that at Christmas time we buy and prepare too much food, every year we are in the same loophole. The table is full of food and the table is still full when everyone has had enough to eat. We tell ourselves that next year it will be different but it never is. We have enough food for the upcoming days and we eat most of it and the left overs go to the animals we have. Food never really goes completely to waste, but for sure the impact of Christmas is enormous on our consumption.” -- Claire Sources:
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