User:Tlogmer/Effects of Christmas on the environment

The celebration of Christmas has both positive and negative effects on the environment.

Positive effects
Polluting industries often cease their activities during the holidays, and the atmosphere, land, and water are able to recover a little from the effects of pollution. (See Week-Long Holiday Vacation in the article German Christmas traditions.)

When the amount of commuting to and from work is reduced, there is a corresponding reduction in motor vehicle emissions.

Christmas motivates many people to donate to charity, including charities working to mitigate environmental damage.

Negative effects
The exchange of consumer products in Christmas wrapping, many of which will be unneeded and/or unappreciated, contributes to the sending of consumer waste to landfills, unless consumers choose to regift them. 

The cultivation of Christmas trees for display during a few weeks, before they are sent to landfills, represents a monoculture which sometimes reduces the use of arable land for agriculture.

Artificial Christmas trees are manufactured by processes which may have harmful effects on the environment. (See: Christmas_tree.) Forum: Artificial Christmas Trees ~ Vrai ou faux?

Christmas decorations for homes and for Christmas trees are consumer products which are sometimes discarded to landfills. Electric Christmas lights consume electricity, which, by most means of production, harms the environment.  Candles and oil lamps can be fire hazards.

Increased travel to visit friends and relatives generally involves the consumption of fossil fuels.

One solution to counter the negative effects is alternative giving.