Can national holidays and sustainability go hand in hand?

Let’s give it to you straight - as much as we love Christmas and all the other national holidays, we have to admit that they’re inherently built on overconsumption.

 

People buy and retailers sell and the sustainability impact of this isn’t dwelt on for long. Because during national holidays, shopper priorities swing away from things like the environment to focus on social relationships with family and friends.

 

But is it possible for sustainability and national holidays to co-exist without completely changing the way people mark them?

 

Tackle waste

The customs of national holidays generate a lot of waste - leftover food, unwanted gifts, wrapping paper, decorations, themed outfits.

 

Rather than trying to stop people from enjoying themselves or taking part in traditions that matter to them, retailers can help them reduce their impact through what they choose to stock.

 

For example, retailers selling wrapping materials or offering a gift wrap service should make sure that everything is recyclable. This means no shiny papers, glittery tags or plastic ribbons.

 

Retailers should also give consumers tips on ways to reuse packaging or even find ways to reduce waste through design.

 

For example, in the past we’ve seen retailers packaging cardboard gift tags in a sleeve which is printed with the gift tag design. Not only does this instantly tell shoppers browsing the shelves what the tag looks like, but the sleeve itself can be cut and used as an additional tag, reducing waste.

 

When it comes to new clothing for the holidays, retailers should again be helping shoppers make more sustainable choices, such as not selling clothing with a specific year or date printed on it, which dramatically reduces the chance of that item being reused or resold. 

 

Clothing rental is another option retailers could explore to reduce the amount of partywear that is worn once or twice before being discarded. This could be extended to things like Christmas jumpers or Halloween costumes, considering that research by Hubbub found that one in five Christmas jumpers are only worn once over the festive period.

 

Reuse where possible

A lot of people still have the perception that a gift has to be something that is brand new. Retailers have the opportunity to help rebrand new as ‘new to the recipient’ by offering quality, secondhand goods for the holidays.

 

Rather than being seen as a cheap or inferior option, secondhand goods should be promoted on the basis of their more unique, limited and carefully chosen nature.

 

If we take Christmas jumpers as an example, rather than just selling new designs each year, retailers could sell preloved Christmas jumpers in their stores as we’ve seen various pop-ups do over the years.

 

Retailers also have the opportunity to turn reuse into a tradition through thoughtful services and personalisation. One example is the annual Quality Street pop-up in John Lewis where customers can refill their tins with a personalised mix of their favourite sweets.

 

But retailers could do something similar with Christmas jumpers where consumers bring the same jumper back each year for a new embellishment, such as a patch or some embroidery, that turns the jumper into a visual journey of their past Christmases.

 

Decorations is another area where retailers could offer secondhand versions of everything from wreaths and baubles through to Halloween and Easter decor. In the UK, a study estimated that households threw away 168m light-up Christmas items and other fast-tech in 2024.

 

Social media trends have helped drive up waste by showing consumers idealised versions of aesthetically matching holiday decor, food and activities that many feel compelled to copy.

 

But instead of driving shoppers to adopt completely different aesthetic themes each year, brands and retailers could show them how to adapt their existing items to get a similar effect. This may start with in-store displays that don’t push a specific theme but could also include workshops or content that inspires reuse.

 

Gift with care

Gifting is one of the biggest elements of national holidays from Easter eggs and Halloween treats to the classic Christmas present.

 

While it’s lovely to get the perfect gift for someone or to receive one, unwanted gifts are a huge environmental burden. Research from Depop found that 27% of Brits have thrown away Christmas presents in their lifetime. On average, £1.2 billion worth of waste is created from unwanted gifts.

 

A survey by Finder reports that 58% of Brits have been given a Christmas gift that they don’t like. Defra also found that the UK throws away approximately £42 million of unwanted presents each year, with most ending up in landfill.

 

One way to tackle this waste is for retailers to move away from ‘default’ and novelty gift options that don’t have longevity. Personalisation can also be a source of waste because a mug with family photos or a keyring with a specific name and personalised message can’t really be resold to someone else.

 

But it’s also possible that consumers need to reduce unnecessary gifting without feeling negative social pressure.

 

Notably, three of the biggest creators of waste are gifts from work colleagues, gifts from neighbours, and Secret Santa gifts. In a survey by Finder, 1 in 6 Brits said they were most likely to throw away gifts from their work colleagues, with 1 in 10 saying the same about gifts from neighbours.

 

With Depop reporting that 38% of people say the main reason they throw away gifts is that they don’t suit their taste and 30% throwing them away because they already own something similar, a big problem seems to be that a lot of gifts are given by people who perhaps don’t know the recipient well enough.

 

Tackling this problem requires rewiring consumers’ mindsets around social obligation, but retailers could help reduce waste to landfill by having an in-store gift amnesty.

 

This would allow people to bring in unwanted gifts and swap them for someone else’s unwanted gift or a store discount. Food items could be donated to charity, along with any left over unwanted presents.

 

Retailers could use data about the type of gifts commonly handed in to adjust their assortment and volumes for the next year, which in turn could help shoppers move away from buying poorly received items.

 

Ultimately, national holidays will never be sustainable events but with small adjustments their environmental impact can be massively reduced.