Tom Lee/Stuff
During the festive season, people dispose of unwanted gifts on Trade Me but also throw away more stuff than during the rest of the year.
And with the celebrations, comes the litter. There were shocking scenes across the ditch after a Sydney beach was blanketed with cans, picnic blankets, tents and bottles left by 10,000 people on Christmas Day.
But the silly season has started and people want to show love by buying and wrapping presents and want to reconnect with family and friends by sharing (too much) food and drinks.
However, Reclaim sustainability manager Nathalia Gonzales said the festive season was about getting together with family, reconnecting and celebrating – rather than over-buying and over-consuming.
She echoed the words of Pope Francis, who said too often people mix the celebration of Christmas with the “idolatry of consumerism” on December 24.
Gonzales, who works for a company that recycles materials from commercial clients, said they see a spike in cardboard from retailers and malls after the Christmas and Boxing days shopping frenzy, as well as an increase in wine and beer bottles and cans.
Her personal advice for the silly season was to buy something that would last longer than a couple of years and avoid being tricked into over-consumption.
But also to be conscious about the disposable packaging the products would come in, she said.
The best and most sustainable thing to do, Gonzales said, was always to avoid and refuse packaging materials and non-recyclable materials, when possible.
Alessandra Tarantino/AP
On December 24, Pope Francis said too often people mix the celebration of Christma with “the idolatry of consumerism”.
According to Auckland-based WasteMINZ, in New Zealand, the festive season can create 30% extra waste each year, with 1600 tonnes of wrapping paper being used.
The not-for-profit company, which was chaired by city councillors and executives from Foodstuffs and environmental consultancy companies, shared tips and tricks to cut down the waste produced during a time of the year when 25,000 tonnes of plastic packaging were created.
As in previous years, after the biggest gift-giving day of the year, people flocked to Trade Me to get rid of unwanted gifts.
However, some Kiwis decided to consume less and buy less, to avoid that.
Nelson Environment Centre operations manager Bobby Furby has seen first-hand the excessive amount of low-cost clothes and poor-quality furniture dropped at the centre.
Furby, who works for a not-for-profit that diverts materials before they end up at the transfer stations or landfill, said he opted to reduce gift exchanging and bought only one gift, after watching people dispose of barely used fast-fashion clothes all year round.
