What to do with unwanted presents?

We’ve all been there – nervously unwrapping a Christmas gift, knowing that your nan has yet again bought you a garish jumper or a bottle of your least favourite spirit. It’s not too difficult to force a smile and a thank you, but once all the festivities are over what exactly do you do with your unwanted gifts and presents? Here are a few ideas.

1 – Swap your presents
Just because you don’t like a present doesn’t mean that someone else won’t. Maybe your sister-in-law is feeling the same way about her third-successive ‘Selfie-Stick’ as you are about your Michael Buble album. Ask around the table to see if anyone fancies swapping – but try to be sly, you don’t want to upset anyone!

2 – Auction them off
Research from eBay suggests that every year we open around 115 million ‘undesirable’ gifts which equates to around £2.2billion. They also say that they see a huge rise in the number of listings in the days and weeks surrounding Christmas. Some items will of course make more money than others, and some items you won’t be able to get rid of no matter how hard you try. However, for the vast majority of unwanted gifts you should be able to list them easily and get a nice portion of pocket money to buy something else you actually want.

3 – Exchange
If you’re really lucky then you might find the receipt tucked away inside the gift wrapping. This is the perfect scenario really. Let’s say you receive a really tacky piece of jewellery, you can avoid upsetting the gifter by enthusing about the gift when you get it, only to return it to the shops in a few weeks. Just keep your fingers crossed that your relative doesn’t ask why you aren’t wearing it next Christmas!

4 – Pay it forward
One selfless option which will do a great deal of good is to consider gifting your unwanted goods to charity. Christmas is supposed to be the season of good will, and there is always someone in more need than you, and someone who hasn’t had anything to open on Christmas morning. Search online or in the paper for schemes operating in your area and get some karma points in return.

5 – Recycle, recycle, recycle!
Some presents you just can’t give away – and not for positive reasons. If you’re left with a particularly horrible bottle of whiskey, then you shouldn’t drink it just for the sake of it. If despite all your best efforts you can’t find a new home for it then pour it down the drain and recycle the bottle. Always be careful to open the item and filter out any recyclable packaging that could be used again and will avoid adding more waste to landfill sites.

Here at LSPS we take recycling very seriously. To find out how about we can help with your waste disposal needs please contact us on 0800 083 7807, or visit our website for further information.