Christmas is the most festive event of the year. No wonder there will be plenty of food, decorations, gifts and cards purchased to celebrate Christmas. The sad thing is, lots of them are wasted.   The story of   Christmas Waste has become more and more surprising every year. 

 Here are a few mind boggling facts about Christmas waste:

Each year, 50 million Christmas trees are purchased in the U.S. (Cygnus Group). Of those, about 30 million go to the landfill. (Environmental News Network). One acre of Christmas trees produces the daily oxygen supply for 18 people.

2.65 billion Christmas cards are sold each year in the United States, that could fill a football field 10 stories high. If each American sent one card less, 50,000 cubic yards of paper can be saved ( Use Less Stuff ). Every year 200,000 trees will be cut down to make holiday cards.

Approximately 1 billion Christmas cards go in the bin in the UK every year.

Wrapping paper and shopping bags account for about 4 million tons of trash each year in the U.S. It is estimated that if every American family wrapped just three presents in reused materials, it would save enough paper to cover 45,000 football fields and if they reused just two feet of holiday ribbon, the 38,000 miles of ribbon saved could tie a bow around the entire planet. Due to the materials( dyed, coated, laminated, plastic etc ) wrapping paper and ribbon are typically difficult to be recycled.

83km2 (an area the size of Guernsey) of wrapping  paper was thrown away in 2001.

750 million extra bottles and 500 million extra cans were thrown away.

At least 28 billion pounds of edible food are wasted each year - or over 100 pounds per person. (Use Less Stuff). It is undoubtedly that the food waste is mounted during Christmas time as it is estimated that 400,000 people become sick each year from eating tainted Christmas leftovers. There is another study that revealed that if we planted trees on land currently used to grow unnecessary surplus and wasted food, this would offset a theoretical maximum of 100% of man-made greenhouse gas emissions.

Christmas doesn't have to be a burden on the environment. With a little effort and imagination, we can reduce the environmental impact of the holiday season.

Here are some ideas to help celebrate the season while caring for the earth.

·         Buy recycled Christmas cards or don’t send them this year – send a festive email instead.

·         Just send one card to all your class mates rather than one each.

·         Make your own Christmas decorations out of recycled items.

·         Avoid buying wrapping paper (make your own) or at least buy recycled wrapping paper.

·         Make your own gift tags from old cards and keep this year’s cards to make tags for next year.

·         Recycle any waste paper, cards, trees etc and compost as much waste food as possible.

·         Unwrap your presents carefully and keep the paper to use next year.

·         Don’t use disposable plates, cups and cutlery. Get your friends to help wash up instead!

·          Buy gifts that are either long-lasting, much needed or from charity shops. Ethical gifts are useful for that person that has everything.

·         Give money, vouchers, cinema or theatre tickets rather than an unwanted gift.

·         Buy a Christmas tree grown in your own country and recycle it or..

·         Buy one with roots so you can plant it in your garden and use it again next year or..

·         Buy one artificial tree to use over and over again.

·         Send any of your unwanted gifts to charity or have a present swap session at school!

Sources-  theguardian.com, independent.co.uk, .recycleworks.org, 1st-ecofriendlyplanet.com etc.