The determinedly left-wing Guardian newspaper came down hard on Christmas Day and adopted an Ebenezer Scrooge tone as it scolded those who celebrate the birth of Christ by saying Co2 emissions produced by those enjoying travel, gifts, family time, lighting, and food are destroying planet and the “the whole meaning” of the day itself.
Citing a “wild in an orgy of lavish gifting, extensive travel and a gluttonous feeding frenzy” as driving the annual festive season, the outlet went on to say “This carnival of consumption has a cost: not just to our wallets and our waistlines, but also to the climate.” It cautioned further:
An analysis for the Guardian has found the average Briton’s consumption on Christmas Day causes 23 times more greenhouse gas emissions than a regular day.
Emissions generated by each adult by all the travel, gifts, energy, decorations, food, drink and waste associated with the climax of the annual carnival of consumerism amount to 513kg of CO2 equivalent (CO2e), the analysis found. The average daily emissions of a UK adult are about 22kg CO2e.
The research lays bare the climate impact of the annual celebrations, enjoyed by hundreds of millions of people in the wealthiest parts of the world but which have long been criticised as having been hijacked by marketing promoting mass consumption.
The Guardian went on to quote Melanie Nazareth from Christian Climate Action, saying: “We have been deliberately sold a vision of Christmas that is based on material consumption. We are constantly bombarded by advertising and media that tells us that if we aren’t spending money on things, we are not doing Christmas properly. This is destroying the whole meaning of Christmas as well as destroying the planet.”
Ultimately the outlet wants those celebrating Christmas to be more “carbon conscious,” be more sparing with gifts and travel while eating less and being ” kind and generous to the planet.”
