Lesson Nine: Holiday Waste
Why it’s the most wasteful time of the year
A few questions to warm us up:
During the holidays, everything from cards and envelopes, wrapping paper, boxes from biscuits and chocolates, shopping bags, wine bottles and toy packaging end up in a landfill. When it comes to the planet, holiday waste is a big ho-no-no.
FYI: Rules about Toronto and wrapping materials
✅Plain wrapping paper or gift bags with the strings/metal bits removed can be recycled (this is huge and not the case most places)
🙅Any paper or bag that has glitter, foil or velvet is garbage!
That being said, these alternatives are recommended as they are more planet-friendly such as: ✅ Reusable gifts bags Using Newspaper as wrapping paper ✅ Wrapping presents in cute old scarves/fabrics
Food waste is another big issue around the holidays. Of all the food produced in Canada, 58% is lost or wasted.
This topic deserves a lesson of its own, but for now, I’ll encourage everyone to 1) plan accordingly when going to holiday dinner parties, and 2) bring reusable containers to take food home (leftover cookies = 🙌). There is a cool tool called the “Guest-imator” (google that) that calculates how much food you need based on the number of guests.
Final Thoughts
The holidays can be a magical time of year. Unfortunately it comes at the cost of destroying our planet’s resources and adding more of a burden to a stressed out climate system.
No one is saying cancel the holidays and gifting and traditions. But I hope this month, everyone can be just a bit more mindful of what impact our actions have on our planet - that would show the true spirit of giving ☺️.
If you have any questions or comments, please share them below! I’m curious what you think or if there is anything you recommend doing around the holidays!
