By Martha Perry, Second Year Liberal Arts
With the festive season fast approaching, swarms of Christmas consumption publicity have already hit our screens. Dawn French’s Marks and Spencer cameo is a great excuse to commence the holiday spirit, but also to indulge in the hasty spending culture. There’s even an option on the M&S website to, ‘Shop the Christmas Ad’, a nimble ploy to take advantage of the annual cultural episode that catalyses so many of the nation’s seasonal purchasing habits.
I mean, I know this is not just any advert, but surely we can do better than that. The GWP group estimates that UK households throw away over three black bags’ worth of Christmas packaging each year. It isn’t difficult to be deceived by the ‘get it before it’s gone’ strategy that yuletide discourse is seething in, but what exactly is ‘it’, and why do we need it so badly?
Advent calendars seem to be an obvious place to start. Once the paper nativity
scenes to open in the days leading up to the 25th , or even the bargain chocolate-filled doors, these humble traditions are now things of the past. The 2017 Zoella advent calendar controversy over her £50 seasonal merchandise seems almost alien when faced with the market for beauty calendars now. This year, The Independent has hailed Lookfantastic’s, with a whopping price tag of £105, as the most affordable.
‘Are these individually packaged mystery gifts are destined for landfill?’
This is not a dig at the beauty industry, and perhaps all 25 doors really do offer a
variety of useful products, but is does beg the question as to whether these
individually packaged mystery gifts are destined for landfill?
The Christmas jumper is a similar emblem as the season to be jolly nears.
Emblazoned with a garishly luminescent reindeer or gargantuan Santa hat, the
competition to one-up yourself and each other every year is stiff. Polyester though, is plastic. And for an item of clothing worn once, pushing twice, the chances of finding this seemingly guilt-free purchase both affordably and sustainably, are slim. Every glittery snowflake or clumsily glued-on pompom brings us that one bit closer to a junk apocalypse. It’s morbid, and arguably not down to Christmas jumpers alone, but these things do all add up.
Tis the season (to be thrifty?)
All is not lost. There is actually a way to escape Christmas propaganda and its
unwarranted fearmongering, without falling into the bah humbug mentality. The thing is, there’s nothing merry about a dying planet. Luckily, with a steady increase in second-hand shopping, it has never been easier to switch our holiday buying habits to be more eco-conscious. In 2023, Vinted reached over 100 million registered users, an incredibly promising statistic that only strengthens the case to consider buying your gifts, or Christmas jumpers, pre-owned. If you’re really dreaming of a white Christmas, it’s probably better to skip the fast fashion this year.
And if you’re desperate to wake up to a chocolate-filled door in the cold month of
December, the more sustainable (and cost-effective!) solution is a reusable calendar you can personalise to adapt to your Christmassy desires. Similarly, seasonal decorations have no right to be ignored. To jazz up the dinginess of student housing, in getting your housemates together over a mug of cheap mulled wine and some tunes, you can arrange a Christmas activity night to deck the halls with fairy lights and swap the plasticky tinsel for paper chains.
Beth Nugent
‘A dog is for life, not just for Christmas’
The Dogs Trust had the right idea all the way back in 1978, and this remark still rings true today. When faced with social media’s Christmas consumerism from as early as September, it is a reminder of the scramble to buy the best thing, but let’s face it – is that thing really going to bring you Christmas joy all year round? There’s no reason to define the spirit of Christmas by the disproportionate waste generated at this time of year, and there are countless ways to keep the merriness going without breaking the bank – or the planet!
Featured image: Martha Perry
Will you shop second-hand this Christmas?
