Planet-friendly Christmas: Rethinking holiday shoppingfor a sustainable future

Planet-friendly Christmas: Rethinking holiday shopping for a sustainable future

Christmas is just around the corner, again! But before we dive into the holiday season, we’ve already been swept up in the whirlwind of Black Friday from the U.S. and Singles Day from China. Both global shopping events share one big theme: consumption. And as soon as we recover from those buying frenzies, we start sliding into Christmas, a time that, in many homes, means even more spending. So, here’s the real question: How can we celebrate without harming the planet?

Our planet simply can’t keep up with the ever-growing appetite for consumption. That’s why now is the perfect moment to pause and rethink what the holidays are about. Instead of focusing on buying more what if we focused on something far more valuable, our well-being?

The good news? Each of us has the power to make that choice. A joyful, meaningful Christmas doesn’t have to come with a mountain of stuff. It can come from experiences, connection, and care, for us and for the world we share.

The environmental cost of Christmas shopping

Every holiday season brings a surge in consumerism: gifts, decorations, food, and party supplies pile up like snowdrifts. In Finland, adults spend an average of €333 on Christmas gifts annually, while households generate 466 kg of municipal waste per person each year. In Lithuania, municipal waste per capita reached 449 kg in 2023, and households throw away nearly 44 kg of food per person annually. Poland wastes about 5 million tonnes of food every year, with Christmas being a major contributor. Germany’s households emit 540 million tonnes of CO₂ annually, with 61% linked to goods and services consumed domestically.

This binge in material goods accelerates resource depletion, trees for wrapping paper, minerals and water for electronics and fashion, worsening pressure on our planet’s finite resources.

In 2009, Johan Rockström and colleagues introduced the Planetary Boundaries framework, identifying nine critical Earth processes that must stay within safe limits to keep the planet stable and habitable. Since then, we’ve already crossed three of those boundaries: climate change, biodiversity loss, and the disruption of the nitrogen cycle, thanks largely to human-driven consumption and industrial activity.

Christmas spending, especially when it involves mass production, global shipping, waste, and packaging, directly pushes us further across these planetary lines. Every extra ton of CO₂, discarded gift, or thrown-away decoration deepens the pressure on Earth’s limited capacity to regulate itself. In essence, holiday consumerism doesn’t just strain the environment locally, it chips away at global systems that support life.  But you can start making the difference today!

Practical tips for a sustainable Christmas

• Plan gifts mindfully: Make a list and stick to it. Choose durable, high-quality items or second-hand treasures instead of impulse buys.

• Gift experiences: Concert tickets, museum passes, a yoga class, baby-sitting or a homemade dinner voucher create memories without adding clutter.

• Reduce food waste: Shop with a menu plan and buy food that everybody wants, use leftovers creatively, and freeze extras.

• Save energy: Switch to LED lights, set timers for decorations, and unplug electronics when not in use.

• Wrap smart: Use recycled paper, fabric wraps, or reusable gift bags instead of single use wrapping paper.

• Support local: Buy from nearby artisans and ethical brands to cut transport emissions and boost your community.

Small steps like these make a big difference, both for the planet and for a more meaningful holiday season.

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Author: Susanna Saari, Turku University of Applied Sciences

Picture: Visit Turku/Arvo Malmi

Copilot AI was used to help with ideas and finding useful sources and polishing the text.

Sources:

European Environment Agency. (2025). Total waste generation in Lithuania: municipal waste per capita 449 kg in 2023. EEA.

Federal Statistical Office of Germany. (2022). Carbon footprint of private households: 540 million tonnes CO₂ in 2021. Destatis.

Lithuania Environmental Protection Agency. (2021). Food loss and waste prevention: Lithuanian household food waste 43.7 kg per person in 2020.

Nordea & Kantar. (2023, December). Nordean kysely: Suomalaiset kuluttavat joululahjoihin keskimäärin 346 euroa. Nordea.

Official Statistics of Finland. (2024). Waste statistics 2023: municipal waste per capita 466 kg. Statistics Finland.

Poland Insight. (2024, November 6). Poles still waste 5 million tons of food annually despite growing awareness. Poland Insight.

Polish Radio. (2025, May 30). Poles waste 5 million tonnes of food a year, officials say. Polskie Radio.

Rockström, J., et al. (2009). Planetary boundaries: Exploring the safe operating space for humanity. Ecology and Society, 14(2), 32.

Steffen, W., et al. (2015). Planetary boundaries: Guiding human development on a changing planet. Science, 347(6223), 1259855. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1259855

United Nations. (2015). Transforming our world: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. https://sdgs.un.org

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Publication Date: 16.12.2025