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It's hard to believe, but another holiday season is upon us. As we decorate our homes, plan celebrations with family and friends and exchange gifts, our impact on the environment isn't often top of mind. Unfortunately, what's often considered "the most wonderful time of the year," isn't so wonderful for the environment. Consider the following:

8,000 tons of wrapping paper are used during the holidays each year, equating to roughly 50,000 trees.

The 2.65 billion holiday cards sold each year in the U.S. could fill a football field 10 stories high.

Household waste increases by more than 25% from Thanksgiving to New Year's.

Added food waste, shopping bags, packaging, wrapping paper, bows and ribbons add up to an additional 1 million tons of trash going into landfills each week.

On average, food travels 1,500 miles from farm to plate.

These statistics are shocking, but thankfully, there are numerous steps we can all take to celebrate in a greener way this holiday season. Below are some ideas that can reduce environmental impact.

Drive less. If each family reduced holiday gasoline consumption by one gallon, or opted to drive 20 miles less, greenhouse gas emissions could be reduced by one million tons.

Reduce energy use by purchasing LED holiday lights. LED bulbs use up to 95% less energy than traditional holiday lighting.

Opt for ground shipping for online purchases. Ground shipping uses less fuel than air transport.

Recycle wrapping paper. Each ton of mixed paper that is recycled can save the energy equivalent of 185 gallons of gasoline.

Avoid accumulating plastic shopping bags by leaving canvas or paper bags in your car to use on shopping trips.

Send e-cards or recycled cards.

Decorate with natural, biodegradable items like cranberries, popcorn and live flowers and greenery.

Look for holiday tree composting drop-off locations in your neighborhood.

Cut back on waste by utilizing reusable glassware, flatware, dishware table coverings and napkins.

Provide containers for recycling aluminum and glass beverage bottles and cans.

Serve organic or locally grown foods and prepare only as much food as needed.

Explore our website for information on ways to live greener year-round and for additional steps you can take to help improve air quality. We also encourage you to like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter @gatewaycleanair.

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The environmental impact of the holiday season

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It's hard to believe, but another holiday season is upon us. As we decorate our homes, plan celebrations with family and friends and exchange gifts, our impact on the environment isn't often top of mind. Unfortunately, what's often considered "the most wonderful time of the year," isn't so wonderful for the environment.

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Fun fact about me: I love the holiday season. I love all of it; the lights, the music, the food.I even love a good gift-wrapping session. I love seeing my family, and I love seeing everyone happy. All that joy does come at a cost, though. Between the lights, travel, wrapping, and food, we create a lot of waste during a normal holiday season. More than one million additional tons of additional waste is created each week between Thanksgiving and New Year's.

Strings of lights produce enough carbon dioxide to fill 15,500 hot air balloons, and we all know how large those are. It's a lot of carbon dioxide. They also increase light pollution by up to 50% in some areas. Light pollution is much more harmful than you'd expect. For us humans, it decreases the amount of melatonin we produce, meaning worse sleep. It's also been linked to obesity, and too much light can actually make driving at night more difficult.

For animals, it's even worse. Coral grows under the moonlight, which also guides baby turtles to the ocean. Artificial light throws a coral's biological clock off-balance, guiding turtles away from the ocean. Reproduction of frogs and migration of birds is also impacted. And that's just the beginning.

To help out, use LED lights. They're 90% more efficient and just as durable. If you have lights outside, use solar-powered strings. Many strings of lights allow you to set a timer: do it! If you can, the best option is no lights, or at least use no lights outside. Generally, the fewer lights, the better.

During the holidays, we use at least eight thousand tons of wrapping paper, 2.65 billion holiday cards, and even more paper from groceries and online shopping. The waste produced from all that paper isn't the only problem, either. In 2005, the paper industry made up 6% of the globe's industrial energy usage, and we've only been using more paper since then.

Luckily, there are many ways to decrease how much paper you use. To start, send e-cards! Just as nice, and honestly, quicker than sending paper cards. You can also reuse wrapping paper if you're careful, along with any boxes things may be wrapped in. Additionally, you can buy recycled wrapping paper in most stores, or through Wrappily. Wrappily creates 100% recyclable and compostable paper and ribbons. There's also a lot of tricks for eco-wrapping out there, such as using fabric. For more ideas, check out EcoCult.

Wrapping gifts, holiday parties, the food... we use a lot of plastics in general, but it only increases around the holidays. Just think about all the plastic cups and silverware used at holiday parties. The bows and wrapping paper contain plastic. The packaging on toys, food, decor, and the bags from the stores. Single-use plastics from ordering in when you really don't want to cook. The plastic Christmas trees and other holiday decors. It's a lot of plastic. In the UK, it's an additional 125,000 tons of plastic from food alone.

Using less plastic around the holidays is a lot like using less plastic year-round: use reusable containers at parties, during travel, and when ordering in. Additionally, make sure any wrapping paper you use is actually paper, and reuse bows year to year. If you can, get a real Christmas tree, or use plastic versions for as long as possible. We use a plastic one at my house, and we've had it for around ten years.

We travel a lot during the holidays, and that's okay! It's good to see family and friends this time of year, safely of course. We just need to be mindful of how we're traveling, and even where our food is sourced.

Air, train, and car travel all produce carbon emissions that are bad for the environment. I think we can all agree that all types of travel increase around the holidays, whether you're flying across the country, traveling by train, or just driving around looking for the perfect gift. If you buy something online, it also travels, sometimes even around the globe. And food? Unless you're buying local, food travels an average of 1,500 miles to get to your plate.

Eco-Travel

Luckily, we have a lot of ways to be more eco-friendly when it comes to travel. Carpooling, for example, to the holiday party. Staying away from flying is also another good step: taking a train uses less fuel, and emissions from planes do more damage to the atmosphere because they're released higher up. If you do have to fly, try to do it in one shot, as shorter flights cause the most pollution per kilometer. Fly coach, and pack light.

When it comes to food and gifts, support local businesses! Buy local food so it doesn't travel as far, and shop at local stores for gifts. If you do buy online, use ground shipping, as it uses less fuel, even if it may take longer.

The holidays are supposed to be an enjoyable time of year, but that doesn't mean they need to be harmful to the environment. Embrace an eco-friendly strategy to your plans, and embrace your loved ones at the same time. Happy holidays!

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The Environmental Impact of the Holiday Season

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Fun fact about me: I love the holiday season. I love all of it; the lights, the music, the food.I even love a good gift-wrapping session. I love seeing my family, and I love seeing everyone happy. All that joy does come at a cost, though.

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From thanksgiving to New Years, household waste increases by more than 25%. (United States)

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As extreme weather events in Canada and around the world are linked to human-made climate change, there is one story that continues to be left out: the connection between climate change and the products we purchase.

Recent research shows that across a product's life cycle - from raw material extraction through manufacturing, distribution, use and disposal - the total embedded carbon emissions are 6.3 times the product's weight. Interestingly, it is the product's supply chain, or what we do not see related to making and distributing products, that is especially carbon intensive.

In the context of human history, the changes to our relationship with the material world have happened in the blink of an eye. Our ancestors lived in direct connection with the land that physically and spiritually sustained them.

Only in very recent human history have so many of us lived our lives at such a great distance from that which sustains us. Today, unchecked consumerism is helping drive a changing climate that is very much affecting all people.

Stories to buy more stuff

Since the Industrial Revolution introduced mass production, companies have devoted tremendous quantities of time and money to educating people about the value of the ever-increasing quantities of stuff for sale. They have told us what to covet, what our stuff says about who we are or our status in the world and why we need to buy even more. As marketing consultant Victor Lebow wrote in the Journal of Retailing in 1955, " We need things consumed, burned up, worn out, replaced and discarded at an ever-increasing pace."

Appeals to consume more stuff - clothes, electronics, appliances, toys, cars and so on - used to be found only in advertisements. In the 1990s, the average American was targeted by 3,000 advertising messages a day.

Today, appeals to consume are barely countable, as they are seamlessly and endlessly woven into our screen-filled lives, arriving via text message, personalized pop-up appeals and social media posts that celebrate consumption such as influencer haul videos.

Our stuff and climate change

In the past few decades, those in more materially affluent parts of the world have enthusiastically added more stuff to their lives and discarded hastily. For example, in the U.S., the average person's consumption of stuff has doubled in the past 50 years and, in 2019, North Americans disposed of almost 21 kilograms of electronic waste per person.

The consequences of our rabid consumption are borne out in the planet's ecosystems. Consumption in "developed" countries has led to massive-scale logging of the Earth's forests, leaving just three per cent of the world's ecosystems intact. The widespread production, use and disposal of plastics has deposited about eight million tonnes of plastic waste into the world's oceans each year.

These outcomes have historically been experienced as "tragedies of the commons." This implies that the consequences are "out there," that the degradation and devastation were not been experienced firsthand - but climate change has changed that, taking lives and livelihoods, destroying homes and entire towns with extremes of heat, drought, wind, fire and floods.

Life cycles matter

It begins with the collection of "resources" - minerals, metals, oil, water and wood - and follows with their assembly into products, their distribution, use and often quick disposal. Each step in a product's life cycle has environmental consequences and a carbon footprint.

For example, trees are the Earth's carbon storehouse but the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) estimates that 10 million hectares of forests are lost each year. Furniture and furnishings in municipal waste (mostly wood products) amounted to almost nine million tonnes in 2018, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, nearly five times more than what was landfilled in 1960. Yet, old-growth forests continue to be cut down and consumers don't know which forest products contain 100-year-old trees.

While producing or buying differently may decrease our carbon footprint, ultimately, the planet's wealthiest will need to produce and consume less.

Large-scale and small-scale change needed

Making an effort to buy less during the holidays could have a meaningful impact. Americans, for example, produce 25 per cent more waste between U.S. Thanksgiving and New Year's Day, discarding half of their yearly paper waste - holiday wrapping and decorations - totalling about eight billion tonnes. Likewise, Canadians will send more than 2.6 billion cards and wrap gifts using 540,000 tonnes of wrapping paper over the holidays. For every kilogram of paper, 3.5 kilograms of carbon dioxide are produced.

Indeed, a big part of coming to terms with consumption and climate change involves acknowledging the inordinate consumption and climate impact of the wealthy. UNEP points out that the planet's richest 10 per cent contribute almost 50 per cent of global carbon dioxide emissions, while the planet's poorest 50 per cent contribute only 12 per cent of global emissions.

Giving is a wonderful way for us to connect with those in our lives. Giving builds families, friendships and communities. Arguably such connections are needed more now than ever. But what we have been taught by the endless onslaught of consumption stories we must unlearn.

We must challenge stories that encourage fast and "cheap" consumption and demand the telling of - and share - stories that accurately link our copious consumption to the devastating effects of climate change. We must elect leaders who will do the hard work of transitioning away from an endless growth economy based on the excessive consumption of monetarily cheap but planet-expensive products. We must demand vital product information such as life cycle carbon footprints. And we must all commit to resisting the constant appeals to consume fast and cheap, by giving less stuff, more slowly and thoughtfully.

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How the holiday buying season adds fuel to a rapidly warming planet

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As extreme weather events in Canada and around the world are linked to human-made climate change, there is one story that continues to be left out: the connection between climate change and the products we purchase.

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Flights, food, manufactured clothing, toys (often made w harmful chemicals), etc., energy

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More products being sold, more resources are being gathered (oils, minerals, trees, metals, waters,…)

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More products being sold, more resources are being gathered (oils, minerals, trees, metals, waters,…)

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A study found that in 2021 the American household had 43% mor waste during the holidays (which amounts to an average of 29 pounds of trash per week)

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A study found that in 2021 the American household had 43% mor waste during the holidays (which amounts to an average of 29 pounds of trash per week)

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The holiday season is a time filled with cheer and kindness to others all around; however, this time may not be as kind to the environment. While it's important to stay environmentally conscious all year round, we must be especially mindful during the holiday season, which regularly produces mass amounts of garbage and energy waste. Even with all the waste the holiday season produces, there are ways to combat it and celebrate the holidays in a more environmentally friendly way.

Undoubtedly, a big part of the holiday season is gift-giving. However, all the wrapping paper used for those gifts impacts the environment negatively. According to the United Kingdom's Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), approximately 500,000 trees are cut down each year to make wrapping paper. Furthermore, because wrapping paper is usually combined with glitter, tape, and plastic, it's nearly impossible to recycle. The glitter in wrapping paper often makes its way into the ocean, where it can get eaten by marine animals. Some ways to wrap gifts in a more earth-friendly way includes wrapping them with newspaper, wrapping them with non-acrylic or non-polyester fabric, using twine or washi tape (which is made from bamboo, hemp, or biodegradable materials) instead of sellotape, or simply reusing bags from previous gifts (if you were to buy a bag, one made from cardboard is a good choice).

Furthermore, while driving around and seeing all the holiday decorations and lights is always a lovely way to spend a winter night, all the lights can negatively affect the Earth. The US Department of Energy states that all those lights use over six TW (TW stands for terawatts, six terawatts equals six trillion watts). This energy equals the monthly energy use of nearly 500,000 houses, and the Energy Saving Trust states that the amount of carbon dioxide produced by Christmas lights each year would be enough to blow up 15,000 hot air balloons. A good substitute for regular T1 light bulbs is using LED light bulbs since they are inexpensive, safe to use, long-lasting, and don't use as much energy.

While there are more ways to be more environmentally conscious during the holiday time, simply implementing the small changes discussed can make a big impact. The changes we make in our lives will help create a cleaner and healthier planet for us to live in. Also, keep in mind that these changes are not only to be used for the holiday season, because we give gifts and use lights all the time! Small adjustments like these will make a big difference, we all just need to work together to make it.

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Exploring the environmental impacts of the holiday season

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The holiday season is a time filled with cheer and kindness to others all around; however, this time may not be as kind to the environment. While it's important to stay environmentally conscious all year round, we must be especially mindful during the holiday season, which regularly produces mass amounts of garbage and energy waste....

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A lot of waste in recycling, food waste. A lot of travel and gas emissions through planes, cars and trains.

Could be positive with lowering food waste because of the giving to homeless shelters, and other people in need.

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Conspicuous consumption is the spending of money on and the acquiring of luxury goods and services to publicly display economic power of the income or of the accumulated wealth of the buyer. To the conspicuous consumer, such a public display of discretionary economic power is a means of either attaining or maintaining a given social status.

The development of Thorstein Veblen's sociology of conspicuous consumption produced the term invidious consumption, the ostentatious consumption of goods that is meant to provoke the envy of other people; and the term conspicuous compassion, the deliberate use of charitable donations of money in order to enhance the social prestige of the donor, with a display of superior socio-economic status.

The economist and sociologist Thorstein Veblen (1857-1929) introduced the term "conspicuous consumption" in 1899 in his book The Theory of the Leisure Class: An Economic Study in the Evolution of Institutions. Veblen described the behavioural characteristics of the nouveau riche (new rich) social class which emerged as a result of capital accumulation during the Second Industrial Revolution ( c. 1860-1914). In that nineteenth-century social and historical context, the term "conspicuous consumption" applied narrowly in association with the men, women, and families of the upper class who applied their great wealth as a means of publicly manifesting their social power and prestige, either real or perceived.

In the twentieth century the significant improvement of the material standard-of-living of societies and the consequent growth of the middle class saw the term "conspicuous consumption" broadly applied to the men, women, and households who possessed the discretionary income that allowed them to practice the patterns of economic consumption-of goods and services-which were motivated by the desire for prestige, the public display of social status, rather than by the intrinsic, practical utility of the goods and the services proper. In the 1920s economists, such as Paul Nystrom (1878-1969), proposed that changes in the style of life, made feasible by the economics of the industrial age, had induced in the mass of society a "philosophy of futility" that would increase the consumption of goods and services as a social fashion - i.e. an activity done for its own sake. In that context, commentators discuss "conspicuous consumption" either as a behavioural addiction or as a narcissistic behaviour, or as both, emphasising the psychological conditions induced by consumerism-the desire for the immediate gratification of hedonic expectations.

Under Veblen's theory, conspicuous consumption was theorized to comprise socio-economic behaviours practiced by high wealth or high-income people. More recent economic research indicated that conspicuous consumption is in fact less common among the affluent and more common among lower-income groups, regardless of racial or ethnic background, and also common to the societies of countries with emerging economies: "It signals that the owner came from a poor group and has something to prove." In The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America's Wealthy (1996), Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko reported that Americans with a net worth of more than one million dollars are likely to avoid conspicuous consumption, and that millionaires tend to practice frugality - for example, preferring to buy used cars with cash rather than new cars with credit, in order to avoid material depreciation and paying interest for a loan to buy a new car.

Conspicuous compassion, the practice of publicly donating large sums of money to charity to enhance the social prestige of the donor, is sometimes described as a type of conspicuous consumption. This behaviour has long been recognised and sometimes attacked-for example, the New Testament story Lesson of the widow's mite criticises wealthy people who make large donations ostentatiously while praising poorer people who make small but comparatively more difficult donations in private.

As proposed by Thorstein Veblen in the 19th century, conspicuous consumption (spending money to buy goods and services for their own sake) explains the psychological mechanics of a consumer society, and the increase in the number and the types of the goods and services that people consider necessary to and for their lives in a developed economy.

Supporting interpretations and explanations of contemporary conspicuous consumption are presented in Consumer Culture (1996), by C. Lury, Consumer Culture and Modernity (1997), by D. Slater, Symbolic Exchange and Death (1998), by Jean Baudrillard, and Spent: Sex, Evolution, and the Secrets of Consumerism (2009), by Geoffrey Miller. Moreover, Hiding in the Light (1994), by D. Hebdige, proposed that conspicuous consumption is a form of displaying a personal identity, and a consequent function of advertising, as proposed in Ads, Fads, and Consumer Culture (2000), by A. A. Berger.

Each variant interpretation and complementary explanation is derived from Thorstein Veblen's original sociologic proposition in The Theory of the Leisure Class: that conspicuous consumption is a psychological end in itself, from which the practitioner (man, woman, family) derived the honour of superior social status.

Definitions - The term conspicuous consumption denotes the act of buying many things, especially expensive things, that are not necessary to one's life, done in a way that makes people notice the buyer's having bought the merchandise. In the article "Veblen, Bourdieu, and Conspicuous Consumption" (2001), A. Trigg defined conspicuous consumption as the behaviours whereby a man or a woman can display great wealth, by means of idleness-expending much time in the practice of leisure activities, and spending much money to consume luxury goods and services.

Self-worth - In the book Income, Saving and the Theory of Consumer Behavior (1949), J. S. Duesenberry proposed that a person's conspicuous consumption psychologically depends not only upon the actual level of spending, but also depends upon the degree of his or her spending, as compared with and to the spending of other people. That the conspicuous consumer is motivated by the importance, to him or to her, of the opinion of the social and economic reference groups for whom are performed the patterns of conspicuous consumption.

Aggressive ostentation - In the television report "Aggressive Ostentation" (2009), Dick Meyer said that conspicuous consumption is a form of anger towards society, an "aggressive ostentation" that is an antisocial behaviour, which arose from the social alienation suffered by men, women, and families who feel they have become anonymous in and to their societies, which feeling of alienation is aggravated by the decay of the communitarian ethic essential to a person feeling him or herself part of the whole society.

Shelter and transport - In the U.S., the trend towards building houses that were larger-than-needed, by a nuclear family, began in the 1950s. Decades later, in the year 2000, that practice of conspicuous consumption resulted in people buying houses that were double the average size needed to comfortably house a nuclear family. The negative consequences of either buying or building an oversized house was either the loss of or the reduction of the family's domestic recreational space-the back yard and the front yard; the spending of old-age retirement funds to pay for a too-big house; and over-long commuting time, from house to job, and vice versa, because the required plot of land was unavailable near a city.

Oversized houses facilitated other forms of conspicuous consumption, such as an oversized garage for the family's oversized motor vehicles or buying more clothing to fill larger clothes closets. Conspicuous consumption becomes a self-generating cycle of spending money for the sake of social prestige. Analogous to the consumer trend for oversized houses is the trend towards buying oversized light-trucks, specifically the off-road sport-utility vehicle type (cf. station wagon and estate car), as a form of psychologically comforting conspicuous consumption, because such big motor-vehicles usually are bought by people who reside in a city, an urban nuclear family.

Prestige - In the article "Status Consumption in Consumer Behaviour: Scale Development and Validation" (1999), J.K. Eastman et al. said that status consumption is based upon conspicuous consumption; yet, the literature of contemporary marketing does not establish definitive meanings for the terms status consumption and conspicuous consumption. Moreover, in the article "Status Brands: Examining the Effects of Non-product-related Brand Associations on Status and Conspicuous Consumption" (2002), A. O'Cass and H. Frost said that sociologists often incorrectly used the terms "status consumption" and "conspicuous consumption" as interchangeable and equivalent terms. In a later study, O'Cass and Frost determined that, as sociologic constructs, the terms "status consumption" and "conspicuous consumption" denote different sociologic behaviours. About the ambiguities of denotation and connotation of the term "conspicuous consumption", in the article "Conspicuous Consumption: A Literature Review" (1984), R. Mason reported that the classical, general theories of consumer decision-processes do not readily accommodate the construct of "conspicuous consumption", because the nature of said socio-economic behaviours varies according to the social class and the economic group studied.

Motivations - In the article "Status Consumption in Cross-national Context: Socio-Psychological, Brand and Situational Antecedents" (2010), Paurav Shukla said that, whilst marketing and sales researchers recognise the importance of the buyer's social and psychological environment-the definition of the term status-directed consumption remains ambiguous, because, to develop a comprehensive general theory requires that social scientists accept two fundamental assumptions, which usually do not concord. First, though the "rational" (economic) and the "irrational" (psychologic) elements of consumer decision-making often influence a person's decision to buy particular goods and services, marketing and sales researchers usually consider the rational element dominant in a person's decision to buy the particular goods and services. Second, the consumer perceives the utility of the product (the goods, the services) as a prime consideration in evaluating its usefulness, i.e. the reason to buy the product. These assumptions, required for the development of a general theory of brand selection and brand purchase, are problematic, because the resultant theories tend either to misunderstand or to ignore the "irrational" element in the behaviour of the buyer-as-consumer; and because conspicuous consumption is a behaviour predominantly "psychological" in motivation and expression, Therefore, a comprehensive, general theory of conspicuous consumption would require a separate construct for the psychological (irrational) elements of the socio-economic phenomenon that is conspicuous consumption.

High levels of conspicuous consumption may be seen as socially undesirable on two grounds; firstly, as it is often associated with high relative income, high levels of conspicuous consumption may be an indicator of high levels of income inequality, which may be found intrinsically or instrumentally objectionable; secondly conspicuous consumption differs from other forms of consumption in that the main reason for the purchase of positional goods is not due to the additional direct utility provided by the good's alleged high quality, but rather the social prestige associated with the consumption of that good. One downside of this search for status is that individual purchases of positional goods may at a social level be self-defeating due to external effects. In this case, the externality is status anxiety, the loss of social status suffered by people whose stock of high-status goods (positional goods) is diminished, in relation to the stocks of other conspicuous consumers, as they increase their consumption of high-status goods and services; effectively, status-seeking is a zero-sum game-by definition, the rise of one person in the social hierarchy can occur only at the expense of other people. Therefore, the conspicuous consumption of luxury goods and services (positional goods) is an economic loss-like competitive military spending (an arms race), wherein each country must match the military expenditures of other countries in the arms race, or suffer a loss of relative military power. In the case of conspicuous consumption, taxes upon luxury goods diminish societal expenditures on high-status goods, by rendering them more expensive than non-positional goods. In this sense, luxury taxes can be seen as a market failure correcting Pigovian tax-with an apparent negative deadweight loss, these taxes are a more efficient mechanism for increasing revenue than 'distorting' labour or capital taxes.

A luxury tax applied to goods and services for conspicuous consumption is a type of progressive sales tax that at least partially corrects the negative externality associated with the conspicuous consumption of positional goods. In Utility from Accumulation (2009), Louis Kaplow said that assets exercise an objective social-utility function, i.e. the rich man and the rich woman hoard material assets, because the hoard, itself, functions as status goods that establish his and her socio-economic position within society. When utility is derived directly from accumulation of assets, this lowers the dead weight loss associated with inheritance taxes and raises the optimal rate of inheritance taxation.

In place of luxury taxes, the economist Robert H. Frank proposed the application of a progressive consumption tax; in the article "The Big City: Rich and Poor, Consumed by Consuming" (1998), John Tierney said that as a remedy for the social and psychological malaise that is conspicuous consumption, the personal income tax should be replaced with a progressive tax upon the yearly sum of discretionary income spent on the conspicuous consumption of goods and services. Another option is the redistribution of wealth, either by means of an incomes policy - for example the conscious efforts to promote wage compression under variants of social corporatism such as the Rehn-Meidner model and/or by some mix of progressive taxation and transfer policies, and provision of public goods. When individuals are concerned with their relative income or consumption in comparison to their peers, the optimal degree of public good provision and of progression of the tax system is raised. Because the activity of conspicuous consumption, itself, is a form of superior good, diminishing the income inequality of the income distribution by way of an egalitarian policy reduces the conspicuous consumption of positional goods and services. In Wealth and Welfare (1912), the economist A. C. Pigou said that the redistribution of wealth might lead to great gains in social welfare:

Now the part played by comparative, as distinguished from absolute, income is likely to be small for incomes that only suffice to provide the necessaries and primary comforts of life, but to be large with large incomes. In other words, a larger proportion of the satisfaction yielded by the incomes of rich people comes from their relative, rather than from their absolute, amount. This part of it will not be destroyed if the incomes of all rich people are diminished together. The loss of economic welfare suffered by the rich when command over resources is transferred from them to the poor will, therefore, be substantially smaller relatively to the gain of economic welfare to the poor than a consideration of the law of diminishing utility taken by itself suggests.

The economic case for the taxation of positional, luxury goods has a long history; in the mid-19th century, in Principles of Political Economy with some of their Applications to Social Philosophy (1848), John Stuart Mill said:

I disclaim all asceticism, and by no means wish to see discouraged, either by law or opinion, any indulgence which is sought from a genuine inclination for, any enjoyment of, the thing itself; but a great portion of the expenses of the higher and middle classes in most countries ... is not incurred for the sake of the pleasure afforded by the things on which the money is spent, but from regard to opinion, and an idea that certain expenses are expected from them, as an appendage of station; and I cannot but think that expenditure of this sort is a most desirable subject of taxation. If taxation discourages it, some good is done, and if not, no harm; for in so far as taxes are levied on things which are desired and possessed from motives of this description, nobody is the worse for them. When a thing is bought not for its use but for its costliness, cheapness is no recommendation.

"Conspicuous nonconsumption" is a phrase used to describe a conscious choice to opt out of consumption with the intention of sending deliberate social signals.

1. ^ West, Patrick (2004). Conspicuous Compassion: Why Sometimes It Really Is Cruel To Be Kind. London: Civitas, Institute for the Study of Civil Society. ISBN 978-1-903386-34-7.

2. Veblen, Thorstein. (1899) ^ Theory of the Leisure Class: An Economic Study in the Evolution of Institutions. New York: Macmillan. 400 pp., also: 1994 Dover paperback edition, ISBN 0-486-28062-4, 1994 Penguin Classics edition, ISBN 0-14-018795-2.

3. ^ Virginia Postrel, "Inconspicuous Consumption", The Atlantic, July/August 2008. "Conspicuous consumption, this research suggests, is not an unambiguous signal of personal affluence. It's a sign of belonging to a relatively poor group."

4. ^ Robert L. Payton and Michael P. Moody (2008). Understanding Philanthropy: Its Meaning and Mission. p. 137. ISBN 978-0253000132.

5. ^ Slater, D. (1997) Consumer Culture and Modernity. London: Polity.

6. ^ Baudrillard, J. (1998b) Symbolic Exchange and Death. London: Sage.

7. Miller G, ^ Spent: sex, evolution and the secrets of consumerism, Random House, London, 2009 (ISBN 9780670020621)

8. ^ Hebdige, D. (1994) Hiding in the Light. London: Routledge.

9. ^ Wilson, E. (eds.) Chic Thrills. A Fashion Reader. London: HarperCollins

10. ^ Berger, A. A. (2000) Ads, Fads, and Consumer Culture. Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield.

11. ^ Trigg, A. (2001). "Veblen, Bourdieu, and conspicuous consumption". Journal of Economic Issues. 35 (1): 99-115. doi:10.1080/00213624.2001.11506342. JSTOR 4227638. S2CID 55731706.

12. ^ Cosgrove-Mather, Bootie; Meyer, Dick (2009-02-11). "Aggressive Ostentation". CBS News.

13. ^ Lloyd, Carol (2005-10-14). "Monster Homes R Us: American homes are monuments to conspicuous consumption". SF Chronicle.

14. ^ Shukla, Paurav (2010-01-09). "Status (luxury) consumption among British and Indian consumers". Paurav Shukla (Podcast). International Marketing Review.

15. ^ Ng, Yew-Kwang (1987). "Diamonds Are a Government's Best Friend: Burden-Free Taxes on Goods Valued for Their Values". American Economic Review. 77 (1): 186-191. JSTOR 1806737.

16. ^ Sámano, Daniel (2009). "Optimal Linear Taxation of Positional Goods" (PDF). Working Paper. University of Minnesota.

17. ^ Cremer, H.; Pestieau, P. (2011). "The Tax Treatment of Intergenerational Wealth Transfers" (PDF). CESifo Economic Studies. 57 (2): 365-401. doi:10.1093/cesifo/ifr014.

18. ^ Tierney, John (1998-11-30). "The Big City; Rich and Poor, Consumed By Consuming". The New York Times.

19. ^ Micheletto, L. (2011). "Optimal Nonlinear Redistributive Taxation and Public Good Provision in an Economy with Veblen Effects". Journal of Public Economic Theory. 13 (1): 71-96. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9779.2010.01493.x.

20. ^ Boskin, Michael J.; Sheshinski, Eytan (1978). "Optimal Redistributive Taxation When Individual Welfare Depends Upon Relative Income". Quarterly Journal of Economics. 92 (4): 589-601. doi:10.2307/1883177. JSTOR 1883177.

21. ^ Aronsson, Thomas; Johansson-Stenman, Olof (2008). "When the Joneses' Consumption Hurts: Optimal Public Good Provision and Nonlinear Income Taxation". Journal of Public Economics. 92 (5-6): 986-997. doi:10.1016/j.jpubeco.2007.12.007.

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Conspicuous consumption is the spending of money on and the acquiring of luxury goods and services to publicly display economic power of the income or of the accumulated wealth of the buyer. To the conspicuous consumer, such a public display of discretionary economic power is a means of either attaining or maintaining a given social status.

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Most of us already know Earth Day. But, you don't have to wait until April 22nd to celebrate an eco-friendly holiday! In 1970, senator Gaylord Nelson created Earth Day to impose environmental regulations issues on the national agenda, which led to the foundation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Since then, organizations like the United Nations Environment Programme and International Dark-Sky Association, and activists like Anwar Fazal, have created several "green" holidays to share the importance of sustainability, environmental commitment, and appreciation for this beautiful planet of ours.

If you'd like to extend your earth-conscious celebrations and be part of the change, here are 65 eco-friendly holidays from around the world.

65 Celebratory Environmental Holidays

20. Earth Day - April 22

Make The Most Of Environmental Holidays

The United Nations or other non-profit organizations established most earth-focused "holidays" to raise awareness of issues.

If you are reading this from the lens of an eco-focused business, these holidays represent excellent opportunities to (1) talk about issues that you are passionate about and that your business is helping to address; and (2), in turn, support your business's marketing efforts.

If you are reading this from the lens of a non-profit, these holidays are perfect days to educate the public about issues - some of which are relatively obscure. Most people don't understand the importance of soil, but showcasing the difference between dead versus healthy soil on December 5th (World Soil Day) can help. Couple this with tips people can take to improve soil health themselves, and you've leveraged this holiday for precisely what it intended to achieve!

If you are an interested citizen, these holidays are great days to talk to friends about issues or engage in relevant activities. For example, maybe World Soil Day is the right day to sign up for your curbside compost program or start your home compost bin.

Eco-Friendly Tips For Celebrating The Holidays

You now have a calendar full of environmental holidays to excite you. Now its time to bring the spirit of environmental holidays to ALL holidays! We all recognize that stretch from Thanksgiving to Christmas as "THE" holiday season. Unfortunately, that particular mega holiday season is not typically the most eco-friendly. This time of year generates the most waste and creates the most emissions.

So, every step we take to decrease the environmental footprint of the season is a win for the planet. With the big season just around the corner, our experts have gathered the best tips to celebrate a sustainable, eco-friendly holiday season - whether you're celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or even Festivus.

You can apply these tips any time of year (and click here for tips to running sustainable events all year long). Remember that every change, small or big, can make a big difference for our environment.

Make This Gift Season More Sustainable

Gifts are fantastic, but there's no doubt they can become a huge source of waste, " considering that 60% of Americans already get gifts they don't want". Here are nine ways to make your gifts eco-friendly:

Avoid Expedited & Overnight Shipping:

We are amazed by the logistical achievement of overnight shipping, but is the impact of a whole truck burning fuel to deliver a pair of socks worth it? We think not. A crucial step towards healthier cities is to take as many vehicles off the road as possible, and expedited shipping is a step backward in terms of your carbon footprint.

Window Shop Online & Buy Local:

Reduce your carbon emissions while still buying local by Google to find stores near you. Then, pick one or two stores with delivery services. You'll reduce emissions by avoiding long-distance deliveries and your carbon footprint by window shopping online.

Give Recycled & Repurposed Gifts:

We are amazed by the logistical achievement of overnight shipping, but is the impact of a whole truck burning fuel to deliver a pair of socks worth it? We think not. A crucial step towards healthier cities is to take as many vehicles off the road as possible, and expedited shipping is a step backward in terms of your carbon footprint.

Send Digital Gift Cards:

Sending digital gift cards is a great way to reduce carbon emissions, and your loved ones will be able to buy something they genuinely want online. A good practice is to send a gift card that supports an environment-friendly company.

Choose Green Holiday Décor

According to the National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF), "Between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day, the amount of trash produced in the United States increases by an estimated 25% -that's about one million extra tons of garbage each week." And a big part of all that waste is produced by holiday décor.

Being more strategic about decorating your house is the perfect next step to a more sustainable holiday season. These are our six green holiday decoration suggestions for you:

Use Timers for Your Lights:

Timers will give you peace of mind and lower your holiday lights' power consumption during the day.

Use Natural Decorations:

Decorate with real plants, and stay away from plastics that you will throw away at the end of the year.

Make Your Centerpieces From Recycled Materials:

Skip new tabletop décor every season. Recycled paper, glass jars, fabrics, and ribbons are excellent décor materials. Light bulbs are exceptional for making decorations as well - upcycle used bulbs by filling them with water, hanging them upside down on a wall, and filling them with plants.

Buy a Potted Christmas Tree:

Potted Christmas trees need less space and are more durable than fully grown Christmas trees, and after the holiday, you can plant it in your backyard. You'll contribute to reforestation and can watch your holiday tree grow for years.

Celebrate The Holidays At Home

Although celebrating the holidays with friends and family under one roof can drastically decrease waste and energy consumption, we must be conscious of the current pandemic. Green holidays don't have to be lonely. Here are three ideas to enjoy a healthy holiday with your family without letting your friends and loved ones out:

Organize an Online Toast:

Send an invitation to your family and friends through Google Calendar so they can confirm directly in the invitation. Then, schedule it after dinner so you can all hang out after the toast.

Have an Online Gift Exchange Party:

Gift exchanges are a tradition, and COVID won't change that. If you already sent your gifts, schedule a time for everyone to connect and open them together.

Make Time to Connect with Loved Ones:

The holidays are a busy time, so ensure to plan ahead to speak with those you love whether it be over the phone or video call. A Skype session while you're decorating the tree, or sending photos while doing some holiday baking are examples of activities that help everyone feel more connected even though you may be far apart.

Decrease Food-Related Waste

Food is an essential part of the holidays. Yet, 74 million mince pies are thrown away every Christmas, and we are not even counting turkey and bread. To have a more eco-friendly holiday, the best thing we can do is to be more conscious about how we manage our food waste this year by following these three rules:

Purchase Only What You Will Eat:

Be mindful of who is coming to dinner and how much food you will need for each guest. It's a little more planning, but the planet will thank you. Ensure the food you do buy is local and organic when possible. You will notice the difference in flavor immediately, and it's better for your family and the planet

Don't Use Disposable Dishes:

Using ceramic dishes for your holiday meal will drastically reduce trash production.

Use Up or Donate Your Leftovers:

Leftovers are a significant source of food waste every year, and the number only goes up during the holiday season. So if you're not consuming them, consider donating your leftovers to those in need.

If you make more earth-conscious decisions this season, you'll enjoy a greener, healthier holiday while showing family and friends that eco-friendly practices are essential throughout the year.

Happy holidays!

Additional Resources

How to Recycle: Tips to Get Started

Guide to Recycling During the Holidays

EcoEnclose Resource Center

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The Ultimate List of Eco-Friendly & Environmental Holidays [A Guide to Green Holidays]

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Most of us already know Earth Day. But, you don't have to wait until April 22nd to celebrate an eco-friendly holiday! In 1970, senator Gaylord Nelson created Earth Day to impose environmental regulations issues on the national agenda, which led to the foundation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

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After disposing of Christmas trees improperly, as many people do, greenhouse gas methane is released from the tree when it's in a landfill

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After disposing of Christmas trees improperly, as many people do, greenhouse gas methane is released from the tree when it's in a landfill

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Increase use of water, power, car use, and pollution

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A lot of trees are cut down.

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Food waste, unwanted presents, over use of plastic, wrapping paper, all end up going to landfills

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25% more waste from thanksgiving-holidays 

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25% more waste from thanksgiving-holidays 

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A lot of waste with food, wrapping paper etc
Air Pollution through travel

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They increase light pollution by up to 50% in some areas

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They increase light pollution by up to 50% in some areas