Episode 05 - Kyla and Kristen Ruin Christmas
Christmas Trees and Ethics
If you live in the US, it’s likely that your Christmas tree is coming from Oregon, North Carolina, Michigan, or Pennsylvania. Oregon is the country’s largest Christmas tree producer, and cuts more than 6 million Christmas trees annually.
Environment
Around 80% of Christmas trees, at least in the US, are artificial. Most artificial trees made out of PVC (plastic) and metal (steel). There is a lot of information out there on whether it is environmentally better to get an artificial or real Christmas tree. Three factors that guide how environmentally friendly a Christmas tree is: ‘tree miles’, length of ownership, and disposal methods.
Some argue that Christmas trees aren’t so bad for the environment. A five- or six-foot tree takes just under a decade to grow and usually a tree is planted in its place.
Most of the articles out there on the environmental impact of real versus artificial trees draws on a lifecycle analysis commissioned by the American Christmas Tree Association (which represents artificial tree retailers). However, I read the report and it seems like it’s largely reasonable. They compare the most common artificial and natural Christmas trees purchased in the US. According to the study, the most commonly purchased artificial tree is manufactured at a large facility in China. It is shipped to the US and distributed by a major big box retailer. It is 6.5 feet tall and weighs 11 pounds). The most common natural tree is a Fraser fir. They assume a 6.5 foot tree cultivated on wholesale natural tree farms and distributed through large retailers. They assume that an accompanying tree stand is 10% metal and 90% plastic. The study covers three time periods of use for the artificial tree – 1, 5, and 10 years. They assume that the tree stand is used for the same amount of time as the regular tree. The study finds that, by energy intensity, an artificial tree is more energy efficient on a 5-year scenario. By GHG emissions, the study finds that – unless a tree goes to landfill – the artificial tree is better than natural trees on a 5-year scenario.
If you are going with a live tree, try to get one that is Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified.
You can actually rent Christmas trees in some places. Essentially, you’ll get a live tree delivered with a root ball. Then it gets returned and is either rented again next year or permanently replanted. This option for sure exists in Ontario and BC. Oh, and using LED Christmas lights will save electricity.
Labour
Because Christmas tree farms require so much more labour over the holiday season, they use temporary labour – which means often long hours for migrant workers.
Wage theft in the Christmas tree industry has come up a few times. In 2002, there was a major court case over labour violations in the American Christmas tree and garland industry. Most of the workers were migrants from Mexico. One of the workers, for instance, was making $3.31 per hour (below the $5.15 federal minimum wage at the time) and working 80h per week. A similar issue came up in 2017. There are also fair trade tree options.
Ethical Gift Wrap
Can’t I just recycle my wrapping paper?
Paper gift wrap and cards can sometimes be recycled, but usually anything glossy or sparkly is not recyclable. A good rule of thumb is this: try scrunching the paper into a ball. If it scrunches and stays scrunched, it can probably be recycled. You will have to remove any sticky tape and decorations like ribbons and bows, since these cannot be recycled.
Putting non-recyclable gift wrap in recycling can contaminate an entire load of recycling, so you really want to avoid doing that. And even if your wrapping paper is recyclable, not every municipality will take it. Toronto does, but you should check with your local municipality before you put wrapping paper in recycling. If you absolutely must use disposable gift wrap, make sure it’s recyclable – and even better if it’s made from recycled material! – and minimize the amount of tape that you use. Remember to remove bows, ribbons, and tape before recycling.
If you do receive presents in non-recyclable gift wrap, try reusing it! A few ideas:
o Roll onto empty tin cans for storing scissors, pens, and pencils
o Shred and use in packaging or shipping to prevent breakage
o Use to cover standard white photo frame mats
o Save and reuse for next year
Is reusable better?
Instead of going for single-use gift wrap, another option is reusable gift bags or fabric wrap. You can buy reusable bags. But you can also create your own pretty easily, either with or without a sewing machine.
However, you have to actually reuse the reusable gift wrap to make it worthwhile. I wasn’t able to find information on paper/plastic gift wrap versus reusable fabric specifically, but we can use an assessment on plastic versus reusable bags as a general approximation. A study by the UK government found that you would need to reuse a cotton bag 131 times to match the emissions of a plastic bag, because of the emissions intensity of cotton. (As a note, though, two other types of reusable bag only needed to be reused 4 and 11 times, respectively, to offset the emissions difference.
Depending on whether you take a sustainability or climate approach, you might decide that reusables are worthwhile or not. By emissions, it can sometimes be better to recycle (or even toss) a single-use item rather than reuse. But if you think about it from the perspective of honouring the earth’s resources, using a resource once and then having it burnt or sitting in landfill is not great. Planet Money did a pretty good two-parter on this a few months ago (Episodes 925 and 926).
If you are looking to make your own reusable gift bags, try using more sustainable fabrics like recycled cotton or hemp or linen! Or, upcycle old clothing by turning it into a reusable gift bag.
Online Shopping and the Environment
A study done by Dimitri Weideli at the MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics based on US figures found that in-store shopping has a larger carbon footprint than online shopping. However, rushed online shopping was worse than both in-store and regular online shopping. Most of an in-store shopper’s carbon footprint comes from the emissions used in transporting goods from the store. Having said that, the study assumes that consumers are driving to the store. Since I exclusively walk or use public transit, it is probably better for me to buy in-store. For online shopping, most of the carbon footprint comes from packaging. And for rushed online shopping, there is also a large footprint from air freight. (So, like, the fact that I had to express mail my gift to you probably makes the entire gift unethical)
Kyla’s Links
Kristen mentioned Planet Money episodes worth a listen, here they are!
The Wickaninnish Gallery where Kyla bought the paintings.
Vancouver’s waste free shop, Nada.
East York Meals on Wheels.
Metro Vancouver has some great tips on recycling and reducing waste.
Halloween Spending Reports.
6 million turkeys.
Thanksgiving weekend shopping figures.
Amazon pledges to be net carbon neutral by 2040.
Some clever tricks companies use to get you to spend more.
The Verge talks online shopping and package waste.
Amazon’s Profits.
CNN reports on the environmental impact of fast shipping.
Buzzfeed News looks at the environmental impact of Amazon and suggests ways we can be better.
Log Driver’s Waltz.