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Polling by the Australia Institute has put a price on wasteful Christmas spending - and it's over $1 billion.
That's the estimated cost of unwanted gifts that will be exchanged this Christmas, many of which will end up as landfill waste.
Nina Gbor, from the Australia Institute, says some people give little thought to gift-giving because they do it out of a sense of obligation.
"People do it as kind of like a ritual, just going through the motions of Christmas because we're expected to do it. The other side is the expectation of seeing that look of joyful surprise on the receiver of the gift which forces people to pretend they like it instead of telling the truth and saying 'actually this isn't what I really want'. So, all of that results in a lot of waste. So ideally, we should just ask people what they want for Christmas. And I think ultimately that will not only lead to less waste but also it will save a lot of money, particularly in a cost-of-living crisis that we're in, and it will make everyone just much happier over Christmas time."
She says Christmas wrapping paper is at the top of the list of wasteful spending that is bad for the environment.
"Most wrapping paper is not recyclable because of things like plastic coatings, foil, glitter and all of these things that make it harder to recycle and only 24 per cent of people re-use their wrapping paper anyway, which is very low. But on the other hand people who buy gift bags, 55 per cent of them re-use their gift bags. So gift bags are a little bit better. But if you want to be even more sustainable, we recommend using fabric gift wrap because those could potentially be used an infinite number of times."
While some will buy unwanted gifts, other Australians who are struggling with living costs plan to buy fewer Christmas presents.
The Salvation Army says 7 in 10 Australians say they'll be watching their spending more this Christmas, with 48 per cent of Australians buying fewer presents for their children and 11.9 million (56%) expecting to spend less on food.
Major Warren Elliott says the demand on the charity this Christmas is as bad as he's seen it.
"The people that are struggling that have really been squeezed by the financial situation at the moment are the ones that are tightening their belts and buying less presents for their children or putting less food on the table. And some are even having to make decisions about where they spend money. We know of people that are going short of medication so that they can buy gifts for their kids. It's really an exercise in budgeting for people at this time of year that some really struggle with."
His message to Australians who might be among those buying unwanted gifts for family and friends is to be mindful and consider redirecting that expenditure to those in need.
"So, if you've got excess that perhaps you could give to the Salvation Army or other charities or not go over the top in buying things for yourself and saving some of the money that you might spend on things and giving that to charity so that we can help other people in need."
