Christmas: how to limit your ecological impact during the holidays and become a real green elf?
"Me, on New Year's Eve, I give poems and low-energy light bulbs. The children are delighted. I serve my guests rice with a leek fondue and I knit my own Christmas tree from recycled sweaters. It took me two years, but the neighbors are jealous. On the morning of the 25th, I distribute oat milk to endangered species in the forest of Fontainebleau."
– Jean-Michel Liar, November 24, 2021.
It is easy to caricature what end-of-year celebrations could be stamped "green". By associating traditions and consumption, magic and abundance in the collective imagination, Christmas highlights the contradictory injunctions between our habits and the demand for sobriety required by the climate crisis. Greening your Christmas remains an elf's contribution in the face of the colossal emissions of industrialized countries and the richest households (whose CO2 emissions are two to four times higher than the most modest ones). But becoming aware of certain excesses and thinking about alternatives that suit us is within everyone's reach.
And here is some information to help you.
In the hood: avoid unnecessary gifts
Before feeling guilty, let's remember the basics: a modest family that took advantage of the Black Friday sales to order a basket of Made in China gifts will always emit less greenhouse gas over the year than a wealthy family that offers bamboo fiber washcloths and wooden toys in a 4-star hotel in Bali. However, everyone can avoid "the gift of death". In a column published in The Guardian (already) 11 years ago, journalist George Monbiot denounced these "gifts" that are given to loved ones who "have everything". The one that costs a few euros, which is produced at the end of the world in poor conditions and which is absolutely useless. The plastic Queen of England waving her hand? The self-heating mug? The popcorn machine for one person? The tube of bacon-flavored toothpaste? Funny, certainly, but deadly, this "gift of death" contributes by its manufacture, its delivery and its inevitable destruction to global warming and must be - if you want to make Christmas green - driven out of the sock. For those close to him, George Mon advocated immaterial options at the time.
From the cinema subscription to the symbolic acquisition of a piece of land to preserve, the planted tree or the famous star... The possibilities are endless. For the others – those who need something useful, or children, not always very fond of the concept of the conceptual gift – the second hand lives its hours of glory. According to surveys, the French are between 47% and 64% to consider offering a Christmas present. Online, via well-known sites such as Le Bon Coin or Vinted, or in second-hand shops, such as resource centers and other Emmaüs stores, spread throughout the territory.
For new buildings, if you want to limit your carbon footprint, you should favor products made in France and avoid ordering online from the other side of the world. So, beware of the green promises of the giant Amazon. If the American company assures that it will achieve carbon neutrality in 2040, its model remains a very emitter of greenhouse gases, points out the association Les Amis de la Terre. "Amazon's emissions increased by 19% last year", denounced the NGO in November, recalling that "Amazon increases by 29% the transport of its products by air to deliver in less than 24 hours to consumers. [A choice] nine times more polluting than road transport, 100 times more than maritime transport". Boosted by our purchases, the company now issues in one year as much as a country like Bolivia.
How to Cool Burns from Chili Peppers. http://t.co/HHSbj6ZZeD http://t.co/ciqHqfMKhq
— McCurrie Wed Jun 26 02:40:04 +0000 2013
On the plate: prefer fish
A few figures before putting on the apron: food production accounts for a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions. Because forests are destroyed to make way for agricultural land, because cattle emit methane, because machines run on gasoline, because slaughterhouses and food processing plants consume energy, everything we eat contributes to our emissions. But not always in the same proportions, as shown by the OurWorldinData.org site. We learn that in general, breeding generates much more greenhouse gases than farms that grow fruits, vegetables, legumes and cereals.
The more meat on the Christmas table, the more your plate will contribute to global warming. And if you do not imagine a vegetarian festive meal, you can however prefer a turkey or a beef capon. Eating a kilo of beef produces 10 times more emissions than a kilo of poultry (99.48 kgCO2eq compared to 9.87 kgCO2eq). And this even when it is local: transport only accounts for 6% of the total emissions attributed to beef. Also think about cheese, which is sometimes more emitting than certain meats.
And the fish in all this? One kilo emits between 5 kgCO2eq (for livestock) to 3 kgCO2eq (for wild animals.) Here, it is not so much the weight of emissions as the impact on biodiversity and marine resources that come into play. In 2017, WWF published a practical guide (PDF) to navigate and consume fish without endangering species. Mullet is thus a good alternative to bass, a victim of overfishing. As for salmon, it remains a problematic guest: environmental associations have for years denounced the conditions of its intensive farming. Decimated by a parasite (the sea lice), the salmon is treated with antibiotics.
Preferring smoked trout to salmon therefore makes it possible to limit the ecological impact of the plate, especially if it comes from a small artisanal farm. If you live near the coast, the Pleine mer association lists the points of sale that guarantee you ethical, sustainable and short-circuit fishing. Elsewhere in mainland France, the Poiscaille or Hissez-Oh sites also deliver fish caught in better conditions by French fishermen. And that goes for seafood too.
In the living room: give up the tree
The development of French ecological awareness has made the Christmas tree a controversial subject. A “chestnut tree” even, which comes back every year, generally brought to the front page by the choice of certain ecological town halls to give it up. But at home too, the Christmas tree becomes a political choice. If not installing one remains the most respectful choice on the planet, it is found in a quarter of homes, especially when there are children, specifies without surprise a report by the Kantar agency for France AgriMer. In 2019, 5.8 million natural trees were sold in France, compared to 1.15 million artificial trees.
Still not very widespread, the rental is developing slowly, via sites such as Ecosapin and Treezmas which offer to replant or recycle the tree after the holidays. Because devoting 4,000 to 5,000 hectares (and ten years!) to the cultivation of fir trees that will end up in the trash a month later, obviously does not make much ecological sense. However, the natural tree remains "greener" than the artificial one. On its website, the French Association of the natural Christmas tree ensures that "the equivalent CO2 emissions for the complete life cycle are 3.1 kg for the natural tree and 8.1 kg for the artificial tree. on an annual basis (48.3 kg for its entire lifetime)".
In addition, according to the Ecological Transition Agency (Ademe), 80% of natural Christmas trees purchased by the French are grown in metropolitan France. But not all are equal: "If you opt for a natural tree, look for the labels: Blue plant, MPS, Organic farming... They help to recognize trees grown with respect for the environment." The artificial fir trees, made abroad, must be taken out of the cellar for at least ten years to offset the emissions linked to their manufacture and transport, detailed CarbonTrust in 2013. Ademe, on the other hand, carries out 20 years this estimate. So why not turn to your plastic Christmas tree for the occasion?
All agree, however, on the most responsible option: the potted tree, which can be replanted in the garden after the holidays, provided it is well treated during its short stay in the living room. It is recommended to keep it indoors for less than a week, away from any heat source and of course not to sprinkle it with artificial snow. If you do not have a garden, Ademe recalls that some stores organize the recovery of Christmas trees, which end up "composted or crushed to serve as mulch in the gardens".