The Environmental Impact of Holiday Shopping ? News Watch

With pre-Black Friday events starting at the beginning of November and competition between major retailers more brutal than it has been in living memory this holiday shopping season is working itself up to be as much of a marathon as the 2012 Presidential Election.? By noon Christmas morning, we will probably all be heaving a collective sigh, regardless of the outcome, just as we did on November 7, just glad to have the confounded thing done for.

There?s certainly a madness to holiday shopping.? There?s also a lot of fun to it.? For those of us with kids, there?s the annual trek to the mall to get pictures with Santa?(perhaps in ugly Christmas sweaters).? There?s the frustrating, but ultimately rewarding, process of seeking out the perfect gift for the hardest-to-buy-for person on our shopping list.

And setting the marketing frenzy aside, there?s also the fact that the holiday season is ultimately driven by generosity.? It says something that during the busiest shopping season of the year, we?re all out buying things for somebody else.

But there?s also an environmental impact to this annual tradition.? And although I?m not a fan of online holiday shopping (endless possibility limits the outcome online) that environmental impact should play a role in the choices we make of where to shop, what to shop for, and how to clean up Christmas morning.

Running from place to place can burn a lot of gas, especially if those places happen to be miles apart ? which they sometimes are in big cities.? It?s more environmentally responsible to choose two or three areas to do your shopping.? Because I like to spread the wealth around, I suggest a shopping mall (for ease), a shopping street of local, independent retailers (for uniqueness and to support the local economy), and a discounter (for frugality).

Once we?re inside the stores, the choices we make can have a big effect on the planet we live in.? Packaging is a good friend to marketers and a major enemy to the environment; selecting gifts with minimal packaging (like an unboxed stuffed animal) over gifts with excessive packaging reduces the amount of waste the holiday will produce.

In most homes, when it comes time to open all those gifts, the flurry of excited paper-ripping produces such a major mess that environmental concern goes out the window in favor of expedited cleaning.? However, setting up separate receptacles for recyclable and disposable wrapping beforehand can reduce both the mess and the footprint of the gift-giving bonanza.

It is in some ways ironic that there is such a negative environmental impact from a holiday dedicated to the birth of an individual who 2.2 billion Christians believe was sent to save the Earth.? Regardless of whether or not we share that belief, perhaps we can make a small investment of time and caution in order to do our part toward the same goal this year.

Source: http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2012/11/21/the-environmental-impact-of-holiday-shopping/

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