Making sure we’ve packed everything we need for our holiday can be a cause for much panic and it seems we are loading ourselves up unnecessarily in a desperate attempt to be prepared for any eventuality.

A new study released today shows a quarter of us spend between two and three days packing our bags for our holiday, but once there only 16% of us actually use and wear everything we’ve packed.

In fact, a third of us are not using a quarter of what we take away.

This means not only do we struggle to lug around ridiculously heavy suit cases but our overstuffed luggage is now becoming a contributor to the pollution of the planet.

In an effort to cope with so much unnecessary weight, aeroplanes are using more fuel and therefore creating more carbon waste.

And the impact is clear. If those who don’t utilise their luggage reduced their items by that 25% it would save 7537 tonnes of carbon dioxide going into the atmosphere each year.

This equates to taking a staggering 2,216 family cars off the road.

But it seems most of us are completely unaware or unconcerned about the implications of our bugling suitcases.

The study commissioned by Thomson as part of its sustainable tourism campaign Holidays Forever found that half of us have never considered the environment when packing and that’s led to calls for British travellers to start taking into account the impact their heavy loads are having on the planet.