How Santa Claus can manage to think sustainability beyond standards

Reusable Christmas trees, LED fairy lights and vegan roasts: There are plenty of ways to make Christmas more sustainable. But what's the point of us humans celebrating ecologically while Santa Claus and his helping elves at the North Pole blow lots of CO₂ into the air during the production and delivery of presents?

In 2023, our Christmas venture "thyssenkrupp XMaaS Services" has set itself the task of developing solutions for this problem – pro bono, of course. They have developed climate-friendly products and services for the various areas of sustainability (environment, social and governance) that go beyond standards. So that "going BEYOND" will soon not only be a top priority for MX, but also for Santa Claus.

Making the logistical masterpiece greener

It's a long way to go before every child in the world has a present under the Christmas tree. From purchasing to manufacturing, packaging, storage and transportation, Santa and his helping elves have a lot to do. It's quite a logistical masterpiece! However, Santa's carbon footprint is anything but a masterpiece. The first step would be to create transparency. Santa Claus Inc. needs to know where and how many emissions are generated – for example with the help of the Christmas Carbon Footprint Calculator. The CCF calculator reveals the carbon footprint of the entire gift supply chain – including flying sleighs and farting reindeers. From this, many actions can be taken to reduce emissions. Without going after the reindeers, of course. This is where the deer:karb platform comes in: The magical platform takes all the data into account and shows which measures in the reindeer industry would have the greatest savings effect. A particularly practical feature is that Santa Claus as well as all helping elves have access to deer:karb.

Another potential saving is obvious: the presents are produced, stored and delivered from the North Pole. The transportation routes to children all over the world are accordingly long. And the longer the distance, the more CO₂ is generated. A much better solution would be to buy and produce the gifts close to the children. Ideally, using 3D printing to be more efficient and to be able to respond to the individual needs of the wish lists. Thanks to the Polargus 3D joint venture, the elves can coordinate all of that via a digital platform.

There are emissions in the gift supply chain that cannot be avoided despite our best efforts. But we at thyssenkrupp XMaaS Services have an answer to this: Voluntary Christmas Credits make it easy to offset unavoidable emissions.

Solving the skills shortage with diversity

When it comes to social sustainability, Santa Claus is pretty well positioned. After all, the business model of his non-profit organization consists of putting a smile on the faces of children all over the world. But he can't do it alone. For the gift business, he needs the support of the elves. The problem: there is a shortage of specialist elves at the North Pole. Every year, Santa Claus fills fewer and fewer positions, for example in the gift warehouse logistics or wholesale and foreign trade gift management apprenticeships. Our solution? A cooperation with the non-profit organization ELFLINGE. It helps to place young elves in the Christmas business, who are often disadvantaged in the application process due to their social background or migration background. A true win-win situation for talented young people and Santa Claus as an employer.

Taking responsibility for the entire gift supply chain

Santa Claus must become aware of this: His responsibility extends beyond the walls of his own company. It is advisable to take a look at the entire gift supply chain: Which suppliers do I work with? How do they treat their elves? Do they respect the environment? Respecting the environment and the rights of mythical creatures should be a top priority throughout the entire supply chain. To raise awareness, the first step is to train all management elves and employee elves regarding this topic.

Once all these steps have been taken, a lot has already happened. The measures you have taken can be documented in a sustainability report – for maximum transparency and to make the solutions you have found accessible to Saint Nicholas and the Easter Bunny. Because one thing is clear: only Santa, Saint Nicholas, Easter Bunny and people together can make a real contribution to sustainable development.

Further information

The developments of thyssenkrupp XMaaS Services are not based on pure magic – quite the opposite. These very real products and services are behind sustainable supply chain optimization for Santa Claus: