We all know that we should be doing more to cut down on waste, whether it’s packaging or food, but I fear one organisation has gone too far. BusinessWaste.co.uk reckons it’s time to ban Christmas dinner as it estimates that 150,000 tonnes of it ends up in landfill. Press releases with claims like these are obviously issued to garner publicity and it definitely caught my eye.

According to its research, BusinessWaste found that the average person tucks into seven pigs in blankets, two portions of turkey, three slices of gammon, five roast potatoes, Christmas pudding and brandy butter, two large chocolate bars, one large fruit cake and one brussel sprout on Christmas Day. That is an awful lot of food and as it’s supposedly an average, it means many people put away much more than that.

BusinessWaste says the biggest problem is that we don’t make meals out of leftovers any more, instead we just scrape what we don’t eat away into the bin. I don’t know where they did their research but I come from a family where bubble and squeak is one of the best reasons for having a roast in the first place. And who doesn’t love turkey curry after Christmas?

Thankfully BusinessWaste doesn’t actually want to ruin our Christmas completely, instead it wants us to celebrate it ’sensibly and in a sustainable manner’. It wants people to sit down and plan their meal, and then only buy what they need and perhaps even buy something for the local food bank. That does sound sensible.

Meanwhile, for those who can’t stand the thought of a traditional Christmas dinner, KFC has a Festive Burger, which comprises the famous chicken topped with sage & onion stuffing mayonnaise and cranberry dressing. Interesting.

Finally, pity the poor children who, I read, have been told that instead of asking Santa for a new Barbie for Christmas should instead ask for world peace. I know we’re living in a land of plenty, where most of us have too much stuff, but blimey it seems a bit too much if you can’t ask Santa for a Barbie. No matter what anyone says, as is customary, no doubt we’ll all spend and eat far too much. Happy Christmas to you all!

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