Christmas is the best time of year for many people, but the festivities and celebrations can cause a lot of household waste. You will be surprised however, how much of the waste can be recycled.
Here are some simple tips to ensure you recycle as much as you can, avoiding waste wherever possible to reduce the amount that ends up in a landfill site.
What can be recycled?
• Christmas Trees- Look for a local collection point at a local park. There are some organisations that take old Christmas trees, shred them into wood chip and for use on flower beds. Ensure all your decorations have been removed.
• Wrapping paper- Try and buy recyclable wrapping paper. We get through so much wrapping paper each year, ensuring we can reuse it makes it a lot more sustainable.
• Tissue Paper- An alternative to wrapping paper is a few layers of tissue paper.
• Christmas Lights (Check with your local council)
• Mistletoe, Holly and Ivy- If they are real you can recycle them as garden waste (make sure they don’t have glue or glitter on them though.
• Batteries- Go to your local large supermarket and they should have battery collection points.
• Christmas Cards- If they are on clean paper or card and do not contain glitter then they can go into your household recycling. Some supermarkets collect your old Christmas cards as well. You could also create scrapbooks from your Christmas cards if you like to keep them as mementos.
• Cardboard boxes- Remove any filling or bits of sticky tape first and ensure the cardboard is clean.
What shouldn’t be recycled?
As you can see from the list above, there is a wide range of materials that you can recycle, there are still some items that cannot be. Placing these in with genuine recyclables can contaminate the whole lot, rendering an entire batch useless.
• Foil and some plastic films are not recyclable.
• Don’t put wrappers that are greasy with food in the recycling bin.
• Avoid wrapping paper with holographic designs as these cannot be recycled.
• Christmas Decorations.
Food Waste
Many households throw away more waste during Christmas than any other time of year, especially food waste. Although you cannot send food off to be recycled, there are a few clever tips you can consider trying to reduce your household’s food waste.
• Try and think about portion sizes during Christmas. Try and estimate accurately how much food your family will actually eat to avoid buying food you won’t realistically finish.
• Freeze any leftovers that are freezer friendly.
• If you have a lot of vegetables left over, create a soup which is easy to make and be easily frozen for later use.
• Place any vegetable peelings into a compost bin rather than into your normal rubbish bin
• Have leftovers as snacks whenever possible. There’s nothing quite like a leftover turkey sandwich.
If you have a lot of guests over during Christmas, you may want to consider hiring a skip for the festive season. A mini skip for domestic use doesn’t take up a lot of space and it allows you to discard of your waste in there that otherwise would be too much for your regular bins. The great benefit is that the rubbish will be sorted and recycled for you meaning you have one less thing to worry about this Christmas.
To find out more about how we can help you with your waste disposal needs, please contact us on 0800 083 7807 or visit our website for further information.
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