Reply To: Will it be a Merry or Thrifty Christmas??

[Peter Watson]

I know that this isn’t very “Christmassy”, but when you think about it Christmas is not very environmentally friendly! We use wrapping paper that is unrecyclable, crackers that have plastic toys in them, tinsel, glitter and then all the packaging on the gifts – not to mention the miles travelled by the presents themselves (and presumably there will be more of that by air freight because of the shipping shortages)! Having said that, I think that the overriding sentiment will be one of just being together with people that you weren’t able to be with last Christmas – and anything that will enhance that will be something many will be willing to suspend usual restraints for. It is something, however, that retailers especially could potentially get involved with and maybe enhance their green credentials by offering more environmentally-friendly products and services. I would expect debt levels to rise – and this may be more painful if the BoE decides to increase interest rates…