Mattress Online have unwrapped the true scale of Christmas overspending, discovering that Brits will throw away a huge 275,613 tonnes of waste every year. Food and drink packaging tips the scales for the most waste, with over 1490,000 tonnes being binned, whilst 50,544 tonnes of food is wasted every festive season.

Christmas trees are high on the list too as 3/4 admit their tree goes to landfill. But even decorations are a serious culprit – Brits bin 68,488 miles of Christmas lights, enough to travel up the UK 78 times.

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Other Stand Out Stats

• Binned food packaging weighs as much as 1.8 billion bottles of prosecco
• Leftover mince pies weigh over 4,800 tonnes – the same as 198 Stonehenge boulders
• Forgotten cheese is three times heavier than Brazil’s Christ the Redeemer
• Dumped drink cans stack 3.8 million times higher than Dubai’s Burj Khalifa
• The amount of sticky tape used could wrap around the world 499 times

Eco-friendly alternatives

In a bid to be more sustainable Mattress Online have also collated some festive eco-friendly alternatives to help cut down on waste over the festive period.

1. Opt for solar-powered outdoor lights to save energy
2. Use brown paper and twine for on-trend, eco wrapping
3. Send e-cards or donate what you would have spent on cards to charity
4. Purchase loose food where possible to reduce packaging
5. Be creative with leftovers – consider a Boxing Day turkey curry
6. Buy or rent a real tree from a UK supplier, like The Christmas Forest
7. See if your local council will recycle your tree for you
8. Make lists for foods and gifts and stick to them
9. Buy rechargeable batteries for toys and electricals
10. Go for green gift alternatives like a grow-your-own plant kit

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Emi Murphy, Campaigner at Friends of the Earth, says: “It’s such a special time of year, but Christmas can risk becoming quite intense when it comes to resource use and emissions. It’s actually easier than you might initially think to have a planet-friendly Christmas though.”

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