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Green Giving Guide:
Three Steps to Sustainable Gifting

According to the Center for Biological Diversity, Americans throw out 23% more tons of waste in December compared to other months, amounting to an extra 5.8 million tons.

THIS WEEK’S CONTRIBUTOR:
Alexandra Haymons, Environmental Scientist
APTIM | Remediation & Technical Solutions
Alexandra.Haymons@APTIM.com
Alexandra has a bachelor’s in organismal biology and ecology with a concentration in marine science from Colorado College. She is passionate about environmental education, conservation, and sustainability with specific interests in fisheries management, shark ecology, and single-use plastic consumption reduction.

 

Green Giving Guide: Three Steps to Sustainable Gifting

The most wonderful time of the year is here! The holiday season is known for joy and celebration, but it also brings a significant rise in waste. The Stockholm Environment Institute found that we each contribute an additional 1,400 pounds of CO2 emissions during the holidays—equivalent to burning 70 gallons of gasoline. This holiday season, I encourage you to join me in sustainable gifting.

Why Sustainable Gifting Matters

According to the Center for Biological Diversity, Americans throw out 23% more tons of waste in December compared to other months, amounting to an extra 5.8 million tons. This includes wrapping paper, packaging, and unwanted gifts, which not only clutter landfills but also waste over $8.3 billion annually. Overloaded landfills emit greenhouse gases like methane, speeding up climate change, while the production of short-lived items depletes natural resources such as water, trees, and fossil fuels.

Reading these statistics has inspired me to reflect on how I can thoughtfully give to loved ones while caring for the planet. I realize how difficult the task of sustainable gifting seems since buying presents is, at its core, a consumptive task. Still, individual impacts, no matter how small, make a difference. By reducing gift waste, we can help ease this environmental burden and work toward more sustainable holiday traditions together.

Three Steps to Sustainable Gifting
  1. Give an experience, not a material. For those who love going out, give tickets to see their favorite band, sign them up for a class, or gift a certificate to a favorite local restaurant. For the homebodies, give a houseplant or regional flower seeds to start a pollinator garden, put together a kit to make coffee at home, or find an interesting cookbook with new recipes to try making. Memberships of all kinds are another great idea!
  2. Shop thoughtfully, not impulsively. If you decide to shop for more material gifts for your friends and family, pick ones that they will be excited to use. Less is more: avoid filler and gag gifts. I like to shop for my loved ones throughout the year and keep the gifts to give later, so that I can thoughtfully find presents that remind me of them rather than scramble around the holidays to find something for the occasion.
  3. Repurpose and recycle wrapping. It really is fun to watch the excitement on someone’s face as they rip away a gift’s wrapping paper, but then that material goes straight to the trash. Instead, I challenge you to think about what household items you can repurpose as wrapping, such as paper bags. You could even stamp designs on the paper to personalize it, adding to the care included in your gift. This year, I will wrap gifts in other gifts, like scarves and tote bags, and save wrapping materials from gifts that I am given to reuse.

Sustainable Gifting with APTIM

Sustainable gifting is a thoughtful way to show you care—for both your loved ones and the planet. By choosing eco-friendly options, you contribute to a healthier environment and inspire others to adopt greener habits. At APTIM, we’re proud to support communities and businesses in cultivating sustainability through our expertise in ESG consulting and waste minimization. Whether you’re looking to reduce your environmental footprint or need guidance on innovative sustainability strategies, APTIM is here to help. Together, we can create meaningful change.

Happy holidays! I hope that you enjoy time with your loved ones as 2024 ends and 2025 begins.

APTIM. In Pursuit of Better.

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