A shopper channeled their inner grinch after they stumbled upon a ridiculous Christmas-themed piece of apparel that seemed destined for the waste bin after only one wear.
What's happening?
In Reddit's r/Anticonsumption community, the shopper posted an image of a black skirt dotted with shiny holiday bows and lined at the bottom with gold tinsel.
"Ridiculous throwaway crap," they vented. "You cannot even wash this s***. The waste meter just goes up and up and up this time of year."
Other Redditors did not mince words or try to conceal their outrage.
"Pure garbage," one commenter wrote.
"I love having a few gaudy Christmas fits, but it boggles the mind that they just made an easy, temporary DIY skirt and put it up for sale," another said.
"I agree!" someone responded. "The sad thing is there are people who would buy this instead of just making it. Just need a pack of bows, some safety pins and some garland. Most people probably have some of this hanging around already. Then just pin everything to the skirt. Everything is removable and reusable."
Why is this important?
The fast fashion industry is well known for worsening "throwaway culture," with the number of times consumers wear a garment dipping by nearly 40% over the past 15 years, per Earth.org. This isn't just a drain on shoppers' wallets but also the planet, with the production of just one T-shirt requiring water that could otherwise be used to sustain a person for 900 days.
The holiday-themed skirt spotlights how festive traditions can feed into the increasing problem of textile waste, which releases planet-warming gases such as methane in landfills. Moreover, many discarded garments never even make it to dumps — instead polluting communities with toxic microplastics and other cancer-linked contaminants as their cheap, synthetic materials degrade.
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This skirt arguably provides a double whammy of pollution given that the material is likely a synthetic such as polyester, while Christmas bows are often made from plastic.
Why would the company add bows to the skirt?
Many retailers count on the holiday season to boost their earnings, and Christmas-themed products are part of that booming business. According to Statista, holiday sales have been steadily on the rise since 2009 and could reach a whopping $979.5 billion in 2024.
Pop culture has also helped drive the resurgence of ugly Christmas sweater parties in which attendees don their most ridiculous holiday-themed jumpers and other apparel.
What can be done about holiday waste more broadly?
Brightly explains that Americans throw out 25% more trash annually from Thanksgiving to New Year's Day, resulting in around 2.9 billion extra pounds per week from items including wrapping paper, returned gifts, greeting cards, food, ribbons, and more.
However, you can still participate in the festivities and feel good that you're doing your part to protect the planet. For instance, one commenter revealed that they reuse their ugly sweater.
"I do have one … that I bought in 2018. I literally wear it every single year," they said.
"Yup, it's basically a costume," another affirmed.
It's also worth noting that not all holiday wrapping paper and decorations are the same, as many are made from plastics or at least have plastic-based coatings. Choosing plastic-free, recyclable options can help you reduce the negative impact of your celebrations. Other revelers have turned to methods inspired by Furoshiki — a Japanese technique of wrapping gifts in cloth.
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