— Written by Lyle Jarvis

Good Gifts Come in Small Packages, but the Best Ones Are Package-Free

The excitement of holiday gifting often comes with an unfortunate side effect: a massive surge in trash. In fact, household waste in the U.S. generally increases 25 percent between Thanksgiving and New Year’s, roughly one million extra tons.

But the holiday season doesn’t have to be quite so trashy. Here are a few quick ways to cut back on waste:

• Choose digital or experience-based gifts (like concert tickets, online classes, or a gift certificate to a local spa) to avoid any physical waste entirely.
  

• Consider a nature-friendly experience gift, like this “America The Beautiful” National Parks Pass (honored at more than 2,000 parks), or an AllTrails subscription to help your loved ones get outside.
  

• For new purchases, sustainable options, companies like noissue offer eco-friendly, customizable packaging that's compostable or recyclable, so your gifts look great without contributing to the holiday waste pile.
  

• Better yet, ditch wrapping paper altogether! Article: 12 Unexpected Materials You Can Use for Wrapping Paper
  

• If you’re buying new products, try buying locally: Supporting small, local businesses greatly reduces how far those products need to be shipped, which can cut down on emissions.
  

• Sometimes, the most sustainable gift is often one that already exists. Thrifting for gifts is a fantastic way to find unique, high-quality presents while cutting down on production and transportation. Article flashback from last year: I Tried Thrifting All My Christmas Presents This Year — And I Spent Less Than $100 on 18 Gifts

Plants: The gift that keeps on growing. Consider gifting a potted herb, flower or mini succulent garden. Bonus points if it doubles as pollinator-friendly!

A Particular Grinch? Holiday Returns

Beyond just the mountains of bubble wrap, this time of year sees a huge spike in shipping and transportation, making for increased levels of shipping emissions. Oftentimes, the footprint it takes to deliver a gift goes right back to where it came from. Nearly 20% of online purchases this holiday season will be returned, doubling the carbon impact of each of those gifts. 

A 2023 report found that transporting returns generated more than 15 million metric tons of carbon emissions per year in the U.S. alone. That's nearly the equivalent of 3.5 million gas-powered cars in a full year! 

A rule of thumb when it comes to making holiday gifting more sustainable? Please don’t buy something if you’re gonna return it.

The Holidays Have a Shipping Problem

When it comes to holiday fleets, Amazon is, of course, impossible to ignore. More than five years ago, Jeff Bezos rolled out a climate pledge, touted his plans to upgrade his fleet to 100,000 EVs and more. But in September 2024, an investigation revealed Amazon increased its shipping emissions more than 75% between 2019 and 2023, from 3.33 million metric tons of carbon to 5.84 million.

The problem was, those EVs are often just delivering the last leg of a gift's trip, and they come on the heels of plane, cargo, or long-haul truck transit. This is the last-mile delivery; the final, shortest, and often most complex leg of a product's journey, when it moves from a local distribution hub (like a warehouse or sort center) to your doorstep. While it may be the smallest geographical part of the supply chain, it  accounts for up to half of all delivery vehicle carbon emissions.

Climate Solutions Make for Good Cheer

The good news is, we’re making progress in both the public and private sectors. Some of the world’s biggest companies are utilizing high-tech solutions like AI-driven route optimization, which saves fuel by reducing travel distances. In New York City, the DOT aims to shift 25% of last-mile freight deliveries from trucks to small, sustainable methods like cargo bikes by 2040. They're also rolling out programs to offer financial incentives for businesses to switch to EVs, move deliveries to off-peak times, all to reduce congestion, pollution and more. 

Startup Spotlight: Coco Robotics landed $80M to advance A.I powered, sustainable last-mile delivery

Wrapping it All Up

Whether it's workarounds to wrapping paper or avoiding reverse shipping, the cost of our holiday convenience is too high for the planet. The good news is, every decision, from secondhand gifts to advocating for smarter policies like e-bike delivery services, can make a world of difference.

Have an idea to make the holiday season more sustainable? Send it as a reply to this email, we’ll feature as many as we can for Pique readers!

Some Stories You Might Have Missed This Week 🗞️📺:

1. Nike, Superdry and Lacoste had ads banned in the UK after "misleading" sustainability claims. (The Guardian)

2. The Department of Energy awarded a combined $800 million across two modular reactor projects (Energy.gov)

3. Texas has become a hub of innovation for creating electricity using geothermal power. Just don't call it renewable. (NYTimes)

Community Announcements 🫂🌱📣

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2. Spotlight: Climate Cabinet: 💡⭐
   
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