Tinsel on the tree, presents wrapped in green and gold paper under its boughs. A roaring fire. Mugs filled with spicy eggnog. The essence of this joyous holiday season.
Well, that’s one way to look at it. Another would be: non-biodegradable, toxin-laden strips on a tree that will no longer grow and sequester additional carbon, symbols of excessive, conspicuous consumption pointlessly wrapped in disposable paper, even after they’re thoughtlessly packaged in planet-killing plastic under its boughs. Carbon being released at a shockingly rapid rate, along with soot and other chemicals, in the fireplace. Mugs filled with dairy product that takes 20 times as much energy to produce as an equivalent plant-based drink. The essence of this season of waste.
That’s how one group of activists sees it, and they’re fighting to expose the damage that’s done every year by holiday cheer.
According to CHEERDOWN (Christmas and Hanukkah Environmental Easing of Revelry, Diversion, and Outlandish Winter Nativityitis), 5% of annual environmental harm—including greenhouse gas emission, toxic waste production, deforestation, and migratory bird kills due to increased air traffic (including sleighs)—can be directly attributed to the excesses of the holiday season. “If people just consumed like normal in the month of December, we could take a big step toward solving our world’s environmental problems,” says Jim Hollofinga, the group’s executive director. “What better present could we give ourselves than a marginally healthier planet?”
The organization has launched a media campaign to sway uninformed consumers, with the motto: “You Better Cheer Down for Goodness’ Sake.” But Hollofinga says they are also leading by example and living a lower-cheer lifestyle. “It’s not that you shouldn’t be happy. Just don’t express it in ways that harm the environment. Is it really happiness if the forests are crying?”
Some of CHEERDOWN’s tips include:
- Do you have to drive (or take a sleigh) to Grandma’s house? Visit with her on Skype instead (assuming you use solar power).
- You want to lose weight anyway. Lay off the cookies and chocolates and candy canes and egg nog and imported oranges. Local produce is the way to go. In most parts of the country, several kinds of root vegetable are available.
- Consider giving handmade crafts as gifts. You can refashion refuse into art and create something beautiful while reducing landfill growth.
- Pine needles fall off trees naturally. Instead of cutting down a growing tree for your Christmas decoration, gather needles from the ground and pile them on a table or dresser.
- Wrapping paper is out. But if you still want to surprise the recipient, hold the gift behind your back for a couple seconds.
Not everyone agrees with the group’s actions, however. Shirley Habbal, president of the US Chamber of Commerce, says the movement is “a disaster.” Habbal calls it “reckless at best. They are fooling with people’s livelihoods. And for what? To ruin people’s happiness for a dubious goal in the future?”
But the president of the New York City Chamber took a more measured view. Patrick O’Malley says, “I love Christmas. I love Hanukkah, all the holidays. And I think part of the message of these precious traditions we celebrate is to care about others. Caring about the environment is one more way to care about people.”
O’Malley went on to say that he didn’t want businesses to suffer. He suggested that the organizers of CHEERDOWN encourage their supporters to make cash donations to businesses in the amount they would have spent. “Then everybody wins,” he said.
CHEERDOWN’s Hollofinga says the group has many critics who misunderstand what they’re about. ”People say we’re waging a ‘war on Christmas.’ It’s not a war on Christmas. It’s just a war on the excessive consumption, merriment, feeling of plenty, and disregard for consequences that are unfortunately associated with Christmas.”
