Christmas is now just 9 days away – are you ready? Many of you will still be scampering around shops in desperate search of gifts for friends and loved ones. Kitchen cupboards will be bursting with food in preparation for festive feasts up and down the country. And all the while, the level of waste we are producing will slowly start mounting up.
Now, new research published by the londoncleaningsystem.co.uk has found that we produce 30% more waste at this time of year – at an eye-watering cost of £3.4bn.
Their research shows that, by the end of the festive period, we will have thrown away:
- Enough wrapping paper to circle the world 9 times
- 1 billion Christmas cards
- 74 million mince pies
- 17.2 million Brussel sprouts
- 6 million Christmas trees
- 2 million turkeys
- 13,350 tonnes of glass
The Commercial Waste Magazine highlights the impact that this level of waste has on the environment. For every 1kg of wrapping paper we use, 3.5kg of carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere. That’s on top of the environmental impact of shipping 6-8 million real Christmas trees from East Asia every year.
Speaking about the findings of the research, the Editor of Commercial Waste Magazine, Andy Jessop, said:
“Waste and pollution isn’t something most people like to think about at Christmas. It’s supposed to be a time where we don’t have to consider these issues and just let go, but it’s important even then, especially when we consider how much more we waste in that short couple of weeks. Hopefully this graphic will help people work out how much money they can save, what alternatives there are, and help spread the word for a greener Christmas period.â€
If you need help disposing of your waste in 2017, it has never been easier to arrange delivery of one of our skips. You can give us a call on 01493 668118, drop us an email to info@wtskiphire.co.uk or use our new online booking form.