A shopper at the now-closed craft store Joann was appalled after coming across aisles and aisles of unsold holiday decor, leading them to conclude, "This is just obscene."
What's happening?
In the r/Anticonsumption subreddit, the shopper explained that they popped into a Joann store to buy something for a client in mid-January and saw up to eight aisles of leftover Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Halloween decorations. "Now multiply this by every store and just so wasteful," they wrote.
The original poster shared a photo of one of the aisles stocked with various ornaments and garlands. A glimpse at a perpendicular aisle reveals more ornaments for sale and bundled in plastic.
"The junk in stores is feeling more and more repetitive every year," one commenter wrote.
"It makes me sad to see it," another said. "I thought about getting something from the holiday clearance section just to keep it out of landfill but there was nothing I liked."
Why is this important?
Many people view the fall and winter holidays as joyous times of connection and relaxation, but they can also be major drains on the wallet and create a shocking amount of waste.
Consumer spending for Halloween alone is in the billions, and plastic-based candy wrappers, costumes, and spooky decorations often go straight to landfills after the big day. From that point to the end of the year, our overwhelmed landfills and ecosystems don't get a break.
The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that the average U.S. household generates 25% more waste between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day.
One Redditor likened the holiday decoration machine to the highly polluting fast-fashion industry, which encourages a wear-and-discard culture with its trendy, low-quality apparel.
"I see nothing inherently wrong with festive decorations but rather the way in which the 'fashion' changes each year," they said. "You are encouraged by social media to throw away and buy new each year."
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Big time 💯 Is Joann doing anything to reduce waste?
As a craft store, Joann — which permanently closed all locations after declaring bankruptcy and then was acquired by Michaels — offered a wide range of products to help consumers save money in the long run and keep items out of landfills, from sewing kits to fabrics that could be used for mending clothes and upcycling tattered items for a style refresh.
In its 2024 Impact Report, the company acknowledged that "powering reusability" was a priority. Last year, more than 70% of its packaging came from widely recyclable paper, and 75% of its seasonal pillows incorporated recycled materials.
Through its partnership with the Kids in Need Foundation, Joann also donated products it would have otherwise discarded, providing free supplies to millions of children at under-resourced schools.
As for the leftover holiday decorations, one Redditor was hopeful they would return to shelves the following year: "I've seen some stores put it away to sell the next year."
However, Joann announced in May that it would go out of business and close all its stores by the end of that month after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy for the second time earlier this year, as reported by Newsweek. It had been offering significant discounts to sell its inventory. It's not yet clear what Michaels will do with that inventory following the acquisition.
What can be done to limit waste during holidays more broadly?
Several Redditors suggested that they found more joy in decorations that had sentimental value, making a strong case for why buying new each year doesn't have as much shine. "My parents had a box of paper decorations that were re-used every year for 40 years," one wrote.
The EPA also has other tips. It recommends reusing gift boxes, shopping with reusable bags (reducing reliance on dirty fuel-derived single-use plastics), and avoiding foil- and plastic-embossed paper options, which have energy-intensive manufacturing processes.
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