Overconsumption during the end of the year celebrations

I create a topic for the first group, we have decided together to work on the overconsumption during the end of the year celebrations, according to Florian Bruno's proposition  . 

I think we're all full after Christmas celebration and the New Year party (that we didn't had to celebrate normally...). In every family that's the same, there is a lot of food (approximately too much per person  ), a lot of alcohol (normaly some good french red wine eheh) and a lot of present. Overconsumption is significant in every thems that I quote previously. We know that all over the year, there is an awareness about the quantity that we can eat for a meal, the clothing that we can buy without an obvious need etc. 

Overconsumption is pointed by everyone all along the year but every continu to overconsume, as I do. Of course Christmas and New Year celebrations are significant events that show a lot about overconsumtion but they are not the onlyone. Recently, some companies as BackMarket did advertising on the Black Friday and told to everyone that they have to stop the overconsumption on this day because there is low prices. They say that on them website we can found some reconditioned products with a lower price without promotion. I think that this is a good advertise to promote their brand and to make everyone aware about the objective of their company. In contrast, they didn't talk about the overconsumption of Chrismast presents because they know they will benefit about this day and increase their sales. That's the magic about the overconsumption of Christmas .

The overconsumption is a real problem during the Holidays, but this year it is different, I thought. First presents, in my opinion kids have too many presents, I don’t have any in my family but when I see, in the supermarket, a full shopping trolley of a family I think is way too many toys for one or two kids. But this year, with the pandemic I supposed that there would be less present. I got less physical presents this year and more gift cards (which for me it does not count as a real present). So I try to believe that kids had less present than last year for example.
Next food, as present I thought people would “eat less” because big family meeting was not encouraged; but I was wrong. I work with parents (who are pork butcher and caterer) and yes there was less order of more than 6 people. In general people respected the advice of the president, but my parents had more order which is good for the shop, not for the overconsumption. Except that I live next a little market, it was full on the 24th of December, and the fish shop was empty (of fish not of people) at 9 am. It was crazy really, that never happen the years before.

I think this year it was weird Holidays and the only pleasure of people was to see their family and eat together to share a special moment after this crazy year we had. For this year it is ok if people overconsume at this holidays because they didn’t during the year, but next holidays we have to make an effort of consumption.

I agree with both Camille and Florian arguments. We overcosum, it's a fact. Especially more than usual during the end of the year celebrations. It's part of the processus.
Personnaly I don't really celebrate Christmas. I mean, my mother don't like this perdiod because she found it hypocritical. For her, we don't have to wait Christmas to give each other gifts and show our love. And I share the same point of view. Why should we wait this period to do that ?
And with the critical situation in wich we are, I don't really understand why stores are open when restaurants, museums are still close. Even if there are some measures put in place, stores remain nests for microbes. Especially at the end of the year. I understand that this period is very important and people need to celebrate but why Christmas is nececerly associate to consommation? Like Camille said, this year was very special and people only want to spend time with their family. We didn't need to overconsume to that and I hope that people will become aware of this in the future. We can celebrate, but we have to do it reasonably.

Overconsumption is a pervasive subject and intensifies during the holiday season with Christmas and the New Year. Between the gifts, the meals, the decorations, the shops full of people, people buy in large quantities for this celebrations.

The end of the year celebrations are an important time for people, they can reunite with their families, give pleasure by offering gifts, passing vouchers with their family and eating well. I think this is even more relevant with the pandemic affecting the world right now. People tend to over-consume but I think that covid has perhaps changed a bit of things, instead of online shopping, somme have favored local shops to support them in this hard time, some have made calls to caterers instead thant going to supermarkets..

I think we should not forget that if we can afford to consume a lot and too much, it’s because there are people who can’t. It would be wrong to think that all French people overconsume during this holiday season and even more in the current situation.
Personally and even more this year, I feel really grateful to have so much, presents, a big Christmas meal when some parents cannot afford that for their children. Maybe if we can afford to overconsume then we can also give to those who cannot do that.

I think most of people overconsumpted during the end of the years, it was always like this, especially for christmas, people like to spend time with their family with a lot of foods and gifts.
It's true that we don't really need a holiday like christmas to do it, but people can get busy with their life and don't really have time to do it sometimes, so Christmas is here to reunite with our family. So I think people overconsumpted to much especially with all the gifts, it's always nice to give present and to received them but sometimes it's too much. We don't really need to have that much present. I think the celebration at the end of the year, christmas it's for spend more time with your family, having a great meals and enjoy with them and new years is to spend time with your friends, having fun.
Well everything is about spending time with your family and friends and not about overconsumption and people need to think more about it this way.

Overconsumption during end of the year celebrations is a reality that I think we all experienced. More food than we can eat, more gifts than we can afford, more clothes that we are likely to never wear again… All of these have a great negative impact on the environment. In fact, even if we know that we are not able to eat huge amounts of food, we keep organizing enormous buffets in order to celebrate and to show that we can afford premium food in big quantity, which has no sense. It is the same philosophy for Christmas presents, especially from parents to children: some parents give their children ridiculous amounts of money or gifts to feel like “good parents” and to show that they can afford all of these. In one hand, this is great for children but on the other hand, some gifts may be only used a few times; and children would not understand the valor of money and become spoilt kids. Finally, having new celebration clothes every year is a trend that is quite annoying because we all know that we would never wear this sparkly dress one more time… This overall celebration overconsumption leads to a huge production to answer the demand but it is polluting a lot, whereas we don’t really need these things in such quantities. So, let’s be more responsible

In my opinion, overconsumption in general is a big problem. 
This phenomenon is much more present at the end of the year with celebrations such as Christmas and New Year's Eve. Indeed, during these periods we consume food and alcohol in large quantity. 
Firstly, there is the aperitif with appetizers and other savoury cakes. Then there is the meal, or should I say the feast. Composed of the starter, the main course: meat or fish (and sometimes both) served with their side dishes. Next, the trou Normand, then comes the cheese and dessert. And finally, fruit and coffee. Isn't it (a little bit) too much? Does all this abundance really allow us to spend more happy holidays? I know I'm certainly not the best person to talk about that because that's in some way the description of the dinner I had in christmas, but still. I did not spend the best Christmas because of the food. Actually, I did not enjoy the food as I should have because it was too much of it. It's like when you were a child and find candies: you start by eating one, then two, and then you almost finished the package. But the more you eat the less you feel satisfaction of it.

Over-consumption during the end of year festivities is, in my opinion, difficult to avoid. Indeed, for many people, these holidays are an opportunity to get together as a family for Christmas and it's normal to exchange gifts at the foot of the Christmas tree and to get together to have a good time! It's part of the tradition after all.

Of course, when there are gifts it means that there have been purchases beforehand because unfortunately you can't count on Santa Claus to do his job! These purchases are essential for shops and companies because this year-end period constitutes a large part of their annual turnover, so over-consumption during this period is essential to ensure their survival on the market.
This over-consumption also concerns food products since, when we all get together as a family, it's normal to organise large meals. And once again, this also benefits livestock breeders and farmers, since, like the shops, they make a large turnover during this period of the year.

Therefore, for me, the over-consumption linked to the festive season can hardly be solved due to the festive context and the strategic importance of this period for the economy. Of course, it's always possible to avoid excesses by reducing waste as much as possible and avoiding many gifts ending up in the bin because they don't suit us. You can very well enjoy this period as a family while avoiding excesses, of course.

Hello John, I hope you had a great holiday. With our group, we decided to talk about this subject, about over-consumption during this very good period. Personally, I'm one of those people who really enjoy this holiday, and who are savouring it! Gifts under the Christmas tree, very rich meals... But I am aware of what this means. This year, I have heard from people who have found more responsible alternatives that do not prevent us from having a great time with our families. For example, making gift wrap paper with only recycled paper: we can think of newsprint, or bags kept for other uses. I think this is an interesting idea, and I hope to do it next year. As far as food is concerned, it's true that we tend to think big, and in the end we have to finish the remains of food without taking the pleasure of doing so. This is something I have paid attention to this year, and I plan to make more effort at Christmas 2021, thinking carefully about what is really enough to feed everyone's stomachs and hearts.

Nowadays, people tend to buy more and more. Why? Because ads and people, yes people too, give the desire to buy stuffs. And at the end of the year, when Christmas is knocking to the door, people start to do shopping and to buy things for their family and friend. This attitude lead at the end to an overconsumption. If we see deep inside, this topic destroy, makes you lose the value of the objects because more you have, and less you give importance to what you had at the first place. So, overconsumption is something that should be more controlled by people and why not, be avoided because if people were conscious of what they had already, the world would be more joyful.

As everyone said, overconsumption is a big problem in our society. We know that today's society encourages people to buy more and more things even if we don't need them. But Christmas is an event that greatly increases this phenomenon. First of all, with all the gifts we make or receive, some of which will probably never serve us. Some years we don't even have an idea for presents simply because we don't need other things at that time, but then people will force themselves to come up with an idea to give us something anyway just because it's Christmas, and we have to give presents... And of course for the meal, we make too much food or drink, and finally we eat the same meal for 3 days because we still have some left over.

What is unfortunate is that we have lost the original part of Christmas which is simply to share a joyful family time and enjoy people rather than possessions.

The magic of Christmas, family dinners, gifts under the tree, beautifully decorated streets, etc.

I really like this festive period as it allows us to get together with family and friends. To make big meals and to show how much we love each other. However, I feel a bit embarrassed when I realise that we are setting aside certain values to play the game of over-consumption.

I have mixed feelings about the festive season. I would be sad if there was nothing for Christmas, but when I see all the waste that is made in such a short time it is worrying.

This year a current event that represents the subject of over-consumption is the ban on the Christmas tree by the ecological mayor of Bordeaux (I put the link to the article at the end). Indeed, the mayor announced "I don't want a dead tree" and replaced the traditional Christmas tree by a live show. Numerous petitions were launched but this did not change anything. On this subject I have no opinion because on the one hand I agree with the mayor but on the other hand I like Christmas too much to do without it.

For the adults we could be satisfied with one or two presents but for the children, Christmas is magic. I think that instead of buying plastic toys that don't last long we could give them gifts that are made to last over time. Maybe offer less but better quality and above all useful. In my family, we are rather sensitive to ecology so when I choose gifts I am careful not to take over-wrapped and recyclable products.
For meals, we cook our own food so that we know what we are eating and avoid wasting food because we take adapted portions.

To conclude, end of the year celebrations is an important holiday in the spirit of the French. But these party has a huge impact on the ecology. I think that by changing small habits such as putting up fewer decorations and reusing them every year, offering gifts who last on the time, not buying too much food, ...
We can reconcile these good moments without feeling embarrassed.


The link to the article : https://www.ouest-france.fr/nouvelle-aquitaine/bordeaux-33000/pas-de-sapin-de-noel-a-bordeaux-le-maire-ecologiste-persiste-et-signe-6973960

Happy New Year John!
So, we decided to talk about overconsumption during Christmas and New year eve. Overconsumption that we all participate in.
It is a time of the year where we all want to think about anything else but the past year. And to do that we want to celebrate and to please our loved ones. I admit I love this time of the year, I love the atmosphere, the decoration with all the lights around the streets, the food, not just for the presents. But we can’t deny that during this period, people lose control of their spending, and they don’t care. In fact, Christmas time became a sort of excuse to not feel guilty about our overconsumption: offer presents to the family and to ourselves… and sellers and stores take advantage of it by selling “the Christmas spirits and magic”.

During the entire year we face overconsumption, so it's obvious that during all the festivities it's doubled. As everybody (I guess), I love Christmas, being in my family, sharing meals nice moments and being laughing until really late. But the sad thing is that today presents have overtaken the place during Christmas, there is less magic for children and for adults too. It's chocking that every year toy catalogue are sent sooner, now we receive them in October and we don't ask children what they want, we ask them to choose something in that catalogue ! Of course they are going to ask for many of them even if they are not really interested (thanks to advertising) ! I think we teach them how to overconsume since the childwood and we have to stop that for their future.

My opinion about overconsumption during the end of the year celebrations is mixed because there are positive and negative points.
Let's start with negative points : shops are overcrowded, people spend piles of money while they complain about crisis and low power purchase all the year. My cousin works in Carrefour and told me that a man ordered for 10,000€ of alcohol ! That sounds incredible ! People buy too much food that ends to be thrown away. For me, the worst think about the overconsumption is the waste. That's even more sad when you know that there are people that don't have enough money for food... It's the same for Christmas presents, children receive lots of toys and most of the time, they play with it once or twice and then they leave them.
However, this festive season is a wonderful period when we spend time with our families, around a table full of food, we offer each others gifts. Spending good moments like that have no price and it takes place only once a year so why would we restrict ourselves ? Some people say that due to the covid-19 crisis, we should be careful and reduce our spendings during this period. But I think that after the horrible year we spend, we should enjoy the festive season.
The other advantage of the overconsumption during the festive season, and not the least, is that it contributes to the economy. It's the period during which almost all stores make the biggest sales revenue.

This year I tried to limit my consumption of goods and make fewer new gifts.
I think it's important to reduce our consumption, especially during Christmas, when people buy gifts.

So for Christmas I tried to buy second-hand products on LeBonCoin (craigslist) or made them myself (viva lé DIY), for my friends and family.
When it comes to food, I must admit that we ate too much, like every year... We ate all the food that are criticised because of their horrible production process or their status as endangered animals : the foie gras, the smoked salmon, the oysters or sea urchins.
IT WAS DELICIOUS! And I now have so many spots on my face, it's critical :/

I hope that everyone spend nice holidays!! Can't wait to see you all in person!

I find that over-consumption in general beyond the holidays is a problem, for the planet but also for humans. Materialism does not bring anything good and man is preoccupied and spends time on things that do not bring anything concrete to life and well-being. This is very noticeable at the end of the year during the holidays, because it is one of the periods in which, we can be said, people feel obliged to buy gifts. I have nothing against it, but I have the impression that finally the basic intention in buying a gift disappears. Especially since now it's no longer clementines that we buy at Christmas, but iphone 12...