The Environmental Impact of the Holidays

By: Karis Manning

Wrapping paper is a stable for most homes during the Holiday and is usually thrown out. Photo Credit: Population Education

As the warm summer air slips away and with Halloween taking a chilly departure, the holiday-filled winter season is coming full force.

With many people gear up for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah and various other winter traditions, the environment is prepping for an overwhelming number of problems.

The waste created between the weeks of Thanksgiving and New Years are higher than any other point within the year. In a report from Stanford University, the waste that accumulates over these weeks in the form of shopping bags, wrapping paper, food, bows and ribbons, contributes to over 1 million tons of trash entering landfills each week.

StudyFinds found that some people can average 43% more waste during the holiday season which adds up to around an extra 29 pounds per week with wrapping paper taking up 58% of the waste.

During the holiday season, according to Clean Air Partnership, a nonprofit environmental organization, over 8,000 tons of wrapping paper is used, which equates to roughly 50,000 trees.

While the paper ends up being dog-piled into landfills, things like glitter end up everywhere.

Glitter can pollute into oceans which affects sea-creatures, and over time collect in their stomachs and cause them to die. While having a present wrapped in shiny glitter-encrusted paper is beautiful upon first glance, glitter is typically made from aluminum and plastic which is considered a microplastic.

Microplastics are small fragments of any type of plastic less than five millimeters long. Due to their widespread presence in the oceans, they pose a potential physical and toxicological risk to underwater organisms.

Even items that can usually be recycled, like some wrapping paper, are no longer recyclable if it's coated with glitter in any way.

Over 2 billion holiday cards are sold each year in the United States. Non-biodegradable cards that end up in landfills tend to stay there for several years. When all of this plastic breaks down, similarly, to wrapping paper, the microplastics are left behind within the soil, and the plastics are never fully removed.

The volume of emissions created by vehicles that deliver these cards contribute to the carbon footprint. According to Brightly. Eco, sending one card produces 140 grams of carbon dioxide.

To add on to the carbon dioxide emissions of delivery vehicles, is the amount of travel and transportation done by those seeing their families. In 2022, Greenly, a Paris based carbon accounting firm, reported that at least 70% of carbon emissions is made traveling to and from a holiday trip.

Most forms of transport burn fossil fuels that emit carbon dioxide which contributes to climate change. The airline industry is responsible for a 5% of global warming during the holidays and driving one mile emits over 400 grams of CO2, which produces a large carbon footprint.

Holiday lights also contribute to the production of carbon dioxide emissions. Strings of lights produce enough carbon dioxide to fill up to 15,000 hot air balloons.

The increase in light pollution seen from space increases from 20% to 50%, according to NASA during the holidays. Excessive outdoor lighting has adverse effects on the planet such as washing out stars in the sky, disrupting ecosystems of nocturnal wildlife, and wasting energy.

Many towns, homes and light shows use string lights from November into early January. Photo Credit: Summit Daily News

For wildlife, coral grows under the moonlight, and with artificial lighting corrupting the skies, baby turtles cannot see their way to the ocean. The reproduction of frogs and the migration of birds also see an impact during the holidays.

Not only can it affect the environment and wildlife, but also humans. With these lights, it makes it difficult to sleep, changing the amount of melatonin that we produce which can cause headaches and increased anxiety.

To mitigate these impacts on the environment, communities can take steps such as using energy-efficient lighting, mimizing travel, and reducing waste through mindful consumption.

Decorating with LED lights, gifting with zero-waste wrapping paper, reusing and repurposing shipping boxes, and wrapping paper are a few ways to protect our environment during the holiday season.

OnePoll, a polling website, found that 6 in 10 Americans produce more waste during the holiday season and 54% said that they are less excited for celebrations when thinking about their waste production. Along with that, 56% said that they feel as though they need to choose between being environmentally conscious and fully enjoying their holidays.

The holidays are the most wonderful time of the year, but it does not have to be harmful to the environment. There are many articles like Four Ways to Recycle—or Reuse—All That Holiday Wrapping Paper and 7 Ways to Reduce Food Waste During the Holidays.