UK-based recycling company, First Mile, is urging people in the UK to ‘cut the wrap and the cr@p’ this Christmas as the company releases new survey results offering an insight into the views and habits of our nation during the festive period.
First Mile first launched its Cut The Wrap campaign last year to encourage greener Christmas wrapping choices, set against the backdrop of figures suggesting over 227,000 miles of wrapping paper is thrown away every year, enough to wrap around the Earth’s equator nine times.
For 2019, First Mile is taking its Cut The Wrap campaign a step further, encouraging people to also ‘cut the cr@p’ and make considered Christmas purchasing choices that are kinder to the environment and create less waste. Its new poll results indicate that consumers are keen to do more, finding that 71% of Brits who celebrate Christmas are concerned about the additional waste it creates, with over half (51%) of respondents saying that they will be making more effort to be greener this Christmas.
First Mile’s recent poll surveyed 2,000 UK adults about a variety of festive consumption and waste issues. The research reveals that, on average, respondents use 3.5 rolls of wrapping paper at Christmas, with nearly a third (28%) using five or more rolls – a significant amount of potential wrap to cut. Christmas wrapping paper often can’t be recycled as it is regularly plastic-based, dyed, laminated and decorated with non-paper additives, such as glitter. First Mile’s Cut The Wrap campaign mission is to spread awareness and inspire consumers to get creative when it comes to wrapping, choosing eco-friendly alternatives such as newspapers and magazines, recycled brown paper and cloth.
Gifts are a good place to start to ‘cut the cr@p’. On average, respondents say that just over half (55%) of the Christmas gifts they receive are things they actually want or need, with 41% admitting to re-gifting their unwanted presents to other people. Over a fifth (22%) say that they have thrown away a Christmas present that they didn’t want or like without even opening or using the item and only 10% of people say that all of the gifts they receive are either wanted or needed.
According to First Mile’s poll, consumers’ biggest Christmas waste annoyances are too much packaging (22%), followed by too much plastic (16%) and wasted food (15%). Nearly half of those surveyed (44%) say that they feel that manufacturers and retailers do not do enough to minimise the environmental impact of Christmas.
When asked how they typically cut down on festive waste, 44% said that they make more of an effort to recycle. This was followed by:
- Be more conscious of volume of food purchased (34%)
- Stop buying crackers containing plastic toys (34%)
- Go plastic-free, or significantly cut down (30%)
- Be more conscious of energy consumption (29%)
- Stop sending physical Christmas cards (26%)
- Stop using traditional wrapping paper (26%)
- Buy items that can be reused each year (24%)
For recycling especially tricky items this Christmas, including champagne corks, tree lightbulbs, coffee pods and compostable food packaging, First Mile is pleased to introduce its easy and low-cost courier service, RecycleBox. With prices from £10, the box can be filled with hard-to-recycle items or items that that are not traditionally recycled through household or commercial waste services and sent back to First Mile for processing.
Looking to the future, being greener was the third most popular likely given New Year’s resolution in the poll, with 40% of respondents saying that saving money is a likely resolution for them in 2020. This was followed by losing weight/eating more healthily (36%) and almost a quarter (24%) saying they’re likely to resolve to try and be eco-friendlier.
First Mile founder and CEO, Bruce Bratley, comments: “It’s great that there are lots of good intentions surrounding festive waste, but it’s important that these intentions are translated into positive action to cut both the wrap, and the cr@p, this Christmas.
“Although people are clearly concerned about Christmas waste, we, as consumers, need to stop buying items that aren’t wanted or needed and that can ultimately damage our planet, such as throwaway novelty gifts.
“The UK produces a colossal amount of waste every Christmas, and I think it’s an incredibly sad statistic – both for the environment and for good-intentioned gifters – that over a fifth of people have thrown away a Christmas present without even opening or using it, and that only 10% of people want or need all of their presents.
“It’s easy to apportion blame to manufacturers and retailers, but we must remember that it’s also us as consumers whose buying choices are responsible for our nation’s festive footprint. Being more gift aware this year, will ultimately set the precedent of what appears on Christmas shelves next year.”
