Holidays Challenge

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High spirits and lower emissions

The winter season brings many religious and cultural celebrations, visits with far-away family and friends, and dreams of escaping the Canadian deep freeze to warmer climates. It can also significantly add to a household’s carbon footprint beyond just running the furnace to stay cozy and having to keep lights on longer because of the shorter days.

With this in mind the Live Net Zero families will examine their own traditions and travel plans to see how they can reduce related emissions.

The challenge

During the Holidays challenge, households will start planning holiday season festivities or holiday vacations to see where their carbon emissions will add up and find ways to reduce them. This includes:

  • Considering whether family gatherings can happen with less air travel.
  • Measuring the food footprint of festive feasts and looking at less carbon-intensive menu options.
  • Shopping for greener gift options, considering how packages are shipped, and choosing options that are useful to the recipient and have longer lifecycles.

Being more emissions-conscious doesn’t need to mean missing out or doing without so our households will be balancing living life to its fullest and decreasing their carbon footprints.

Learn more about household emissions related to vacations and festive occasions and how to decrease them.

Download the Live Net Zero Holidays Challenge overview for additional information on carbon emissions related to holidays, and tips for simple ways to decrease your own carbon footprint.

Download the challenge overview

Follow along

See what the households did to reduce their travelling and food consumption to decrease carbon emissions related to holidays.

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Commuting

Plot a course to drive less and decarbonize your ride to take the pole position on emissions reductions.

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Home Improvement

Some thoughtful home introspection is required to make major progress towards becoming net zero.

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Home Envelope

To seal this deal you’ll need to ditch drafts and fill the gaps in your home’s cold weather defences.

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Heating and Cooling

Keep your cool while ensuring your home is warm and water’s hot with the fewest carbon emissions possible.

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Electricity

Pull the plug on inefficiency to take charge of your power consumption, and find ways to green your grid.

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