Environment
Briefing from Prospect •
@ProspectEnviro
www.prospect.org.uk/environment
Socially and environmentally sustainable Christmas
This briefing is not intended to be “bah-humbug” but rather a light hearted document that looks at
Christmas through a sustainability (social and environment) lens with a fair amount of poetic licence.
It does however aim to raise awareness of a range of issues that both individual Prospect members and
organisations could consider – one to reduce waste and energy consumption
associated with the season and secondly how to contribute to being a positive force
for good both at home and abroad.
A
is for air quality! The UK Meteorological Office
states that, “Man-made and natural pollutants
in the air we breathe affect our health and can
influence the weather”. In London an estimated
4,300 people died prematurely as a result of air
pollution in 2008 alone. Bad air in the lungs is linked
to bronchitis, asthma and heart disease.
So while we may not be able to do much about
overall air quality over the Christmas period – we
could, where appropriate, consider using public
transport, pedal power and footfall instead of our
cars and ………. introduce plants into our homes!
The addition of interior plants is a natural way to
help remove pollutants from the air - plants absorb
carbon dioxide and emit oxygen. The House of
Plants website list 10 healthy interior plants rated
for their environmental benefits selected according
to ease of growth and maintenance, resistance to
pests, efficiency at removing chemical vapours, and
transpiration rates.
B
atteries! New gifts at Christmas often go hand
in hand with batteries. Batteries contain toxic
chemicals, do not biodegrade and are difficult to
recycle. Each year about
22,000 tonnes of UK
household batteries1 are sent to landfill. That's the
same weight as 3,666 Tyrannosaurus Rex'
Since February 2010, shops selling more than 32kg
of batteries a year have to provide battery recycling
collection facilities in-store. This means there are
now lots more places where you can take your old
batteries for recycling.
C
ards: With an average of 17 cards in the UK for
every person the reuse and recycle element is
important. There are of course many charity cards
available but making your own may be an option.
Obviously electronic cards and use of social media
could be an option as well.
Charities estimate that £50m2 is raised for good
causes through the sales of charity Christmas cards
each year - a good office idea I’ve seen, that could
contribute to this, is one a large card that
everyone pays to sign with the money donated to a
local charity.
1
http://www.recycle-
more.co.uk/images/static/pdf/rm_factsheet092.pdf
2
http://www.greetingcardassociation.org.uk/resources/for-
publishers/the-market/facts-and-figures
Latest revision of this document: https://library.prospect.org.uk/id/2014/01539
This revision: https://library.prospect.org.uk/id/2014/01539/2014-12-01
D
is for decorations - recycled to making your
own – ranging from using old CDs to edible
options to swing on your tree. Garden or natural
items make excellent ornaments.
E
Is for energy efficiency. There are numerous
websites giving advice for domestic energy
efficiency but keeping in the Christmas spirit:
 More family and friends in your home over
Christmas will make it easier to keep warm so
turning down the thermostat by a degree or two
may not be noticed,
 Make sure that radiators are not obstructed by
decorations, Christmas trees or re-arranged
furniture,
 Always fill the dishwasher fully before putting it
on after Christmas dinner,
 Keeping your curtains closed (and switching to
thermal curtains) keeps heat in and saves both
energy and money.
Energy saving for businesses: the Carbon Trust
indicates that, “From PCs to fridges, office
equipment accounts for around 15% of electrical
energy used in all UK offices. This is expected to rise
to 30% by 2020. The cost of running this equipment
in the UK is £300 million per annum and this is
increasing every year.”
The Carbon Trust produced a Christmas tips
guidance that includes switching off computers and
lights, and keeping the heating to a minimum when
offices have low occupancy over the Christmas
period.
F
ood! Research from the University of
Manchester3 has found by the time the
ingredients for the average British Christmas dinner
arrives on our plates they have travelled a combined
distance of 49,000 miles - the equivalent of
6,000 car trips around the world. Academics in
the School of Chemical Engineering and Analytical
Science estimate a typical Christmas meal for eight
people generates the equivalent of 20 kg of carbon
dioxide emissions.
Buy local or buy less is the basis for a lot of the
guidance on food sustainability with some of the
below worth considering:
 Produce bought locally means you will be
supporting small suppliers and the local
community, while minimising your carbon
footprint,
 Buy drinks in bigger bottles rather than small
ones. One large bottle generates less waste than
several smaller ones,
 Food waste is a major issue. We throw away 7
million tonnes of food and drink from our homes
every year. It's costing us £12.5bn4 a year - it’s
bad for the environment too.
The United Nations estimates that if farmers all
around the world fed their livestock on agricultural
by-products, and on the food that we currently
waste, enough grain would be liberated to feed an
extra three billion people – more than the additional
number expected to be sharing our planet by 2050.
Public Health England has published guidance on
health and sustainable food. The guidance outlines
the principles used to write the advice and toolkits
for people who commission food and catering
services, to ensure their service provides both health
and sustainability benefits.
Good food at work: Every organisation has the
power to make choices - this could be by improving
the catering in your canteen or, for smaller
organisations, the food you buy in for events and
celebrations.
G
is for gifts …… perhaps the area where
creativity comes into play. The Earth Easy tips
for sustainable giving suggests services instead of
goods, experiences to enjoy, recycled gifts,
sustainable gifts, unique and exclusive gifts.
Many charities now offer gift donations where you
can give a goat or books for schools.
K
Is for keeping calm at Christmas! There is
evidence that Christmas puts a strain on
families. The NHS has informative guidance entitled,
“Keep calm at Christmas”, on how to alleviate and
deal with Christmas stress.
L
Christmas tree lights left on for 10 hours a
day over the 12 days of Christmas produce
enough CO2 to inflate 12 balloons. If you’d like to
4
http://england.lovefoodhatewaste.com/content/cost-food-
waste-uk-every-year
3
2
http://www.manchester.ac.uk/discover/news/article/?id=3316
be more environmentally friendly, try switching to
either LED lights, choosing lights that are powered
by solar power or rechargeable batteries – you could
reduce your energy consumption by 90%.
percent and 17 percent of annual global greenhouse
gas emissions.
A fibre optic decoration can light a whole tree from
a single bulb, and is just as effective as a whole
string of Christmas tree lights.
The Woodland Trust has a partnership scheme to
“plant a tree” in bare land in one of their new
woodland sites. Equally the “trees for cities”
campaign organisation offers a range of initiatives to
support.
M
Artificial trees are not necessarily greener and there
may well be problems with labour standards in the
supply chain.
istletoe: the Woodland Trust indicates that the
tradition of kissing beneath the mistletoe at
Christmas was first recorded in 16th century
England. Although mistletoe may be nice as a
Christmas decoration, it also offers excellent food
and habitat for many creatures BUT it’s been
declining across the UK.
N
O! Saying no is never easy, but perhaps at this
time of heightened festivities we can commit to
a 2015 New Year’s resolution to support campaign
organisations who defend the abused and exploited.
We’d like to hear a resounding collective NO to
inequality, poverty, injustice, labour exploitation and
abuse.
P
lastic-free: More than 17bn plastic bags are
handed out by supermarkets a year - that's
300 for every person - causing nearly 60,000 tonnes
of plastic to go to landfill sites. The bags and plastic
packaging can take between 400-1,000 years to
break down, and like all forms of plastic they do not
biodegrade.
R
is for recycle. According to Recyclenow.com,
English households will throw out an additional
3m tonnes (five sacks of rubbish per family) over
the festive period.
S
If you’ve got something spare – share! There
are many appeals at this time year. Many
stores have collection points for food-bank
donations or items such as coats and jerseys.
T
rees - the eco-friendly type! There are over
400 tree growers across the UK registered with
the British Christmas Tree Growers' Association,
where trees are grown according to guidelines
governing everything from sustainable seeds and
cultivation to protecting local wildlife.
According to the United Nations Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO), an estimated 18
million acres (7.3 million hectares) of forest are lost
each year. Loss of forests contributes between 12
3
U
nwanted Christmas presents – The charity shop
website locator shows you the closest place for
you to make a positive contribution of unwanted
gifts. Or you could re-gift them at
www.freecycle.org
V
eggies – the seasonal type! Our food system is
a significant contributor to greenhouse gas
emissions. The United Nations Food and Agriculture
Organisation (FAO) has calculated that, globally,
agriculture generates 30% of total man-made
emissions of greenhouse gases, including half of
methane emissions and more than half of the
emissions of nitrous oxide.
Seasonal veggies need not be imported, do not
require energy-intensive conditions such as heated
greenhouses and reduces the likelihood of energyintensive methods of storage and transport.
W
rapping constitutes one of the biggest
Christmas wastes - the Department for
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs estimates that
last year's wasted paper would be enough to wrap
up the Channel island of Guernsey. If we all recycled
just half of the 8,000 tonnes produced we'd save
25,000 trees. Try wrapping your presents in brown
or recycled paper, recycled foil or newspaper, fabric
and using string or raffia (made from bark which
regenerates) to tie it up.
Waste Awareness in Wales has an excellent website
of stats and facts about waste at Christmas. They
indicate5 that:
 the amount of wrapping paper estimated to be
thrown away in the UK at Christmas could stretch
around the equator nine times or to the moon if
each sheet was laid end to end,
5
Recycle for Wales statistics based on WRAP research from 200
 Every year the UK throws out an estimated 4,500
tonnes of tin foil over the Christmas period. This
is enough to cover around 1500 square miles* roughly the size of Suffolk!
 13,350 tonnes of glass is thrown out in the UK
during the festive season – from champagne and
sherry bottles to mincemeat and cranberry sauce
jars.
Electronic waste is perhaps the most disturbing
with each year in the UK we generate 1.2 million
tonnes of electrical waste. That is the equivalent of
150 thousand double decker buses!
The human and environmental tragedy behind the
electronics industry – from cradle to grave - is
appalling. From the mining of the minerals to our ewaste dumping in the developing world much needs
to be done to protect both people and planet from
abuse.
 Congo mining of minerals for e-gadgets
 Lithium mining in Bolivia
 E-waste dumps in Ghana
Winter weather: Last week the cold weather plan
was released for England and despite our warming
climate, ‘cold snaps’ are a risk highlighted in the
Climate Change Risk Assessment. The Public Health
Outcomes Framework, first published in January
4
2012, includes indicators to reduce excess winter
deaths and address fuel poverty. The Cold Weather
Plan for England therefore helps to raise the public’s
awareness of the harm to health from cold, and
provides guidance on how to prepare and respond.
X
ercise a slight play on the phonics! but without
invoking the “bah-hum-bug” sentiment, we
would encourage less Xbox and more physical
exercise to blow away the Christmas calorie intake.
es …… together we can! In 1983 Nelson
Y Mandela said, “It’s in your hands to create a
better world for all those who live in it”.
Whether in the UK or abroad, using your union as a
platform, we can indeed contribute to making the
world a better place. So our “Yes” will be for job
creation, decent work, safe workplaces, fair pay and
dignity for all in the workplace. The echo of that
will include a “Yes” for good stewardship and
governance of planetary resources.
Z
….. after it’s all over it’s time for “zzzzzzz” or
time to slow down and invest in the
relationships and friendships that are truly
sustainable.