Why I boycott Christmas...

(Click the links above to return to the main site, or to read the rest of my blog archive).

Why I'm boycotting Christmas Thursday, 4 December, 2008 20:34 GMT

Xmas poster

So, Christmas is almost upon us once more. It seems that every year I am less and less enthused about the whole season and this year (2008) I have decided not to celebrate it at all. I have donated the money I might have spent on cards and presents to the
WWF Amur Leopard appeal, and plan to spend the day as I do any other.

Call me miserable if you wish, but here are just some of my reasons for shunning Christmas:

Sources for my facts: The Energy Saving Trust, The Independent, & Defra

Xmas trees
To me, there's something quite horrid with cutting down a living thing in its prime, dressing it with gaudy decorations, allowing it to die, and then chucking it away.
Some facts:
About 7 million Christmas trees are grown and sold in the UK each year, enough to stretch end to end from London to the North Pole and back. Many will be incinerated or dumped into landfill sites in Britain once the festive season is over. Only 10% are recycled and fewer than 5% planted to be re-used next year. Christmas tree lights left on for 10 hours a day over the 12 days of Christmas produce enough carbon dioxide alone to inflate 12 balloons.

Food & drink
Why do we all feel the need to eat and drink more around Christmas? The amount of food wasted is crazy.
Some facts:
The various ingredients of an average Christmas lunch may have travelled a total of 24,000 miles by the time they get to your plate. Over 40% of festive food is wasted. Turkey foil alone will create 3,000 tons of waste.

Presents & cards
The money spent on presents and cards, and the waste created from the packaging and wrapping paper is atrocious. It's a cliché, but this is such a consumer holiday.
Some facts:
It's estimated that 83km² of wrapping paper end up in our rubbish bins each year, that's enough to wrap up Guernsey. 3 million tonnes of waste is dumped during Christmas in the UK - enough to fill 120 million wheelie bins. You can also add to that 125,000 tons of plastic packaging. Within three months, 41 per cent of the toys children receive will be broken. Most will go to the tip. More than a billion Christmas cards are likely to be dumped or burnt - which, laid end to end, would stretch around the world five times.

Lights & decorations
It astounds me how much money is spent on Christmas decorations and lights. I am looking for a hard-fact on how much electricity is used during December on these gaudy monstrosities, not to mention how much carbon dioxide is omitted.

Miscellaneous Christmas traditions
For example - Christmas work parties. Best I don't get started on that... School nativities - 65% of young people do not consider themselves to be religious (The Humanist Association) so why do we need a nativity each year? I also don't agree with teaching children religious stories as fact.

There are many other reasons why I hate Christmas. I won't bore you with them all.

Think I'm a scrooge? I'm not judging anyone for celebrating Christmas, despite my strong views against it. So please do not judge me for not celebrating it. I've given you the facts. I'm just being honest, ethical, and following what I believe in (or, rather, do not believe in!).

Rant over... for now!
Sarah