Scrooge was politically correct

While most people look forward to the forthcoming Christmas parties, presents and food, few will stop to think about the amount of waste created during the festive period.

In the UK, it is estimated that a massive 3 million tonnes of rubbish will be created over Christmas and unfortunately most of this ends up dumped in landfill sites.

Waste over Christmas and the New Year will include:

• one billion Christmas cards;
• an extra 500 million aluminium drinks cans;
• nearly 3,000 tonnes of aluminium foil used to wrap Christmas turkeys;
• an extra 750 million glass bottles and jars;
• 83 square km of Christmas wrapping paper;
• eight million Christmas trees, generating over 12,000 tonnes of rubbish;
• around 125,000 tonnes of plastic packaging.

It is therefore not surprising that we are being encouraged to think more about the environmental impact of our rubbish and produce less, reuse and recycle! Being waste conscious can also pay off financially, an additional benefit given today's credit crunch climate.

Ricky Burnett, Policy Director with arc21 said, "There are lots of different things that people can do to have a more eco-friendly Christmas. It only takes a little bit of consideration, forward planning and common sense. The benefits, however, are significant and will help protect the environment now and in the future."