Christmas splurge
How much extra do households spend at Christmas?
— £500, according to the Bank of England. Over the course of December our spending on food increases by 10%, alcoholic drinks by 20% and books 35%.
— £645, according to OnePoll (2016), including £117 spent on a partner’s gift.
— £796, according to YouGov (2015), including £159 on food and drink and £596 on gifts.
Festive waste
How much do we throw away over the Christmas period?
— 1 billion Christmas cards.
— 83 sq km of wrapping paper (enough to plaster the whole of Brighton and Hove with festive greetings).
— 125,000 tonnes plastic packaging.
— Six million Christmas trees (as many as there are trees in Epping Forest and all London’s parks put together).
— 4200 tonnes of aluminium foil, enough to manufacture 14 Boeing 747s.
Source: Envirowaste
Slipping behind
Some things which were supposed to happen in 2017:
— Hinkley Point C nuclear power station.
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