TRANSCRIPT
For many, Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year.
But for others, it's a time to be honest about what the season really means.
Nina Gbor is from the Australia Institute.
"Some environmentalists say that Christmas is the greatest annual environmental disaster. Because you have a hit for a few weeks where our consumption rates are through the roof."
The Australia Institute has published a Yuletide survey that measures just how much waste there is - starting with presents.
"Gift giving is a longstanding Christmas tradition, and it's beautiful and it's wonderful. However our research shows that approximately three in ten - that's about thirty percent; 6.1 million adults - expect to receive Christmas presents this year that they're never going to use or wear. And in terms of financial value, that comes to about 921 million dollars."
It's not just about the presents.
Research from Care Australia suggests Australians will reportedly use more than 150,000 kilometres worth of wrapping paper this Christmas, enough to wrap around the Earth's equator almost four times.
Sustainability Victoria says food waste is responsible for around 15 percent of all Victoria's non-energy greenhouse gas emissions.
And food is typically the centre of a Christmas gathering.
OzHarvest's Sustainability Manager is Ruby Wake.
"The numbers are staggering. We waste 7.6 million tonnes of food every year in Australia, and 2.5 million tonnes of this are coming from our homes. And these numbers are massive - but they actually go up 30 percent more during the festive season."
Matt Genever says there are ways to cut down on the excess, before it happens.
"We should definitely be thinking about what we're going to be left with on Christmas Day. So a lot of the wrapping papers that people might be drawn to - maybe they're shiny or they've got glitter on them - those types of wrapping papers are generally not recyclable, or not easily recyclable."
OzHarvest has some ideas - about cutting down on food waste at Christmas.
Ruby Wake says families should aim to use what they already have first before they buy more.
"Create a shelf in the fridge and the pantry where you put the food that you need to use up first. You put it there - and we have a really handy tool to help with this. It's called our UseItUp tape. It's a paper tape, it's really bright yellow, and you use that to mark out the shelf or you put it on the containers, and that works as a really useful visual tool for the whole household."
Despite the environmental impact that too much Christmas can have, many advocates have hope it will remain a joyous time of the year for many.
Matt Genever has the final word.
"I think Christmas is there to be a time of celebration. It's a time where you've got lots of colour and lots of light and lots of joy. And certainly I don't think we should be suddenly running to put all those things away forever. I think it is just about being smart and thinking about your impact over Christmas."
