On the first day of Christmas…
The world’s population begins to prepare for the exciting festivities to come! Children impatiently wait to open their neatly wrapped presents lying beneath the Christmas tree. Little do they know that per one kilogram of wrapping paper, 3.5 kilograms of CO2 is emitted for its production, spreading throughout the atmosphere and exacerbating the rate of climate change.
On the second day of Christmas…
It’s that time of year to spread the Christmas cheer among friends and family. Across the world, cards spreading joy and happiness overflow from letterboxes. In participating in this practice, we blindly cut down two hundred thousand trees, destroying habitats and ecosystems.
On the third day of Christmas…
A big decision needs to be made in which Christmas tree to choose! And what type? In the UK each year, three million more people opt to buy real Christmas trees than those who opt for artificial ones. This contributes to increased deforestation rates at this time of year.
On the fourth day of Christmas…
The season would not be the same without the delicious food that comes with it. Christmas is the time to gorge on chocolate logs, gingerbread men, and who could forget the delights of a Christmas roast. With eyes bigger than our bellies, the average Brit spends over £40 on food that goes to waste.
On the fifth day of Christmas…
In the UK the focus of the Christmas season comes down to the three days surrounding Christmas day. Our three days of festivities astonishingly equates to 5.5% of the UK’s annual total carbon footprints. This is a stark reminder that in such a concentrated period of time we can cause severe damage to the health of our planet.
On the sixth day of Christmas…
The big day has arrived and the spirit of Christmas sees families coming together to celebrate. Whether it be at the grandparents house this year, or your turn to host, combined, we travel 6 billion miles around the UK to see friends and family. The emissions from transport on Christmas Day release harmful particulates into the atmosphere contributing to the anthropogenic greenhouse effect.
On the seventh day of Christmas…
The presents underneath the tree are finally ready to be opened. Screams of excitement and approval fill the room, and not just from the direction of the kids, as family and friends thank each other for their gifts. Overall the carbon footprint of Santa’s operations amounts to around 70 million tonnes of CO2.
On the eighth day of Christmas…
Clinging onto the memories of the Christmas celebrations, and with the arrival of the three wise men still to come, the Christmas decorations linger throughout the house. At a time when we’re boycotting palm oil use and looking at alternatives to avoid horrific deforestations, we don’t bat an eyelid to the 8 million trees that are cut down each year for UK households to show off their yearly decorations on Facebook.
On the ninth day of Christmas…
Speaking of those decorations, the lights shine brightly among the branches of the tree. Shine brightly they may, but hardly efficiently: old incandescent bulbs use up to 90x more power than LED bulbs. This careless waste of energy encourages unsustainable use of our Earth’s energy resources.
On the tenth day of Christmas…
The nostalgia of our delicious Christmas roast dinner lingers in our minds, and of course in our hearts and stomachs. In fact, each Christmas the UK consumes 10 million turkeys. The intensity of the poultry industry during the festive season contributes large quantities of CO2 to the atmosphere both directly and indirectly.
On the eleventh day of Christmas…
The Christmas sales are out and everyone is making the most of some amazing deals, especially within the fashion industry. Christmas consumerism has in fact increased eleven-fold over the past 50 years, giving power to large companies with unsustainable production lines.
On the twelfth day of Christmas…
It’s time to think about taking the decorations down for another year. Speaking of which, the plastic tree is looking a bit worse for wear, would it be worth keeping it on? Sadly an artificial tree must be used for 12 years to make it greener than a natural tree that is chipped or burnt.
Throughout this season I urge everyone to think about our Christmas traditions and what they mean for the planet. Do they truly reflect the values of Christmas enough to risk the future of our planet, or could there be a better way? I believe there is.
Written by Mathilde Corcoran, 1st year Geography student
DISCLAIMER: THE VIEWS EXPRESSED IN THIS ARTICLE ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHOR ONLY AND DO NOT REPRESENT THE VIEWS OR OPINIONS OF COMPASS MAGAZINE AS A WHOLE OR THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY