Christmas song's gifts would cost $19,261, produce 54 tonnes of greenhouse gasses
From the Victoria Times-Colonist:
If, on the 12th day of Christmas your true love wants to indulge you in poultry and performers, consider that gathering the gifts from the famous song will not only cost you $19,261.03, but also comes with a hefty environmental price tag of 54.4 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions.Partridges and pear trees don't come cheap.
"That's quite an extravagant Christmas, when the average person in Canada is responsible for five tonnes of emissions per year," said Dale Marshall, climate change analyst for the David Suzuki Foundation.
Higher gold prices and increased minimum wages have driven up the monetary cost of the song's gifts by 3.1 per cent for 2007, according to Pittsburgh-based PNC Wealth Management, which has done the tongue-in-cheek economic analysis for 23 years.
CanWest News Services has calculated, using various carbon-emission calculators, the environmental cost of such holiday generosity as 10 Lords-a-leaping, five gold rings, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree....MORE
