The food waste, the $400 million in “unwanted” gifts – like pamper products, scented candles and novelty items, and the single-use wrapping and plastic they come packaged in. How did the Australian Christmas take on such a huge environmental footprint?
Every year – according to waste and recycling companies and other data – Christmas generates more rubbish and recyclable material than any other day of the year.
According to Credit Suisse, Australia is per person the wealthiest country in the world. According to the Global Waste Index, we’re about the 8th worst of 36 OECD countries in terms of waste generated per person. Christmas is “on top of” broader patterns of behaviour. Australians throw one in five shopping bags of food in the bin, which is about $3800 worth of groceries per household each year, according to Foodbank, which does wonderful work. That’s about 2.5 million tonnes of edible food or 300 kilograms per person wasted this year.
An interesting trend is what I call “conscientious consumption” as opposed to “conspicuous consumption”. It’s not about buying less and, say, righteously depriving our kids of magical mornings. It’s about buying – and even leasing – smarter.
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