Recycling Tips for the Festive Season

Christmas is unquestionably one of the most wasteful times of year for many of us. Here are just some of the ways you can cut down on the amount of waste you generate and recycle more, so that you can be sure of doing your bit for a more environmentally friendly Yuletide.

Get imaginative with wrapping paper

The UK Christmas season typically sees hundreds of thousands of miles of paper thrown away, and with most wrapping papers not being recyclable – particularly those consisting of foil or metallic materials – it’s a good idea to specifically look out for recyclable wrapping material.

Alternatively, you might use your own ‘green’ wrapping paper, such as discarded newspaper – the comics or sports sections work especially well for this.

Send eco-friendly Christmas cards

E-cards and other email greetings are becoming increasingly popular alternatives to traditional Christmas cards, although there’s also the option of buying cards made from eco-friendly material, or which are designed to be a keepsake rather than thrown away.

If you tend to receive a lot of Christmas cards, why not reuse them for arts and crafts purposes – such as for homemade gift tags?

Use reusable bags for shopping

You’re likely to rack up a lot of shopping centre ‘mileage’ when gift shopping this season, so make sure that good habit of using reusable bags to carry your shopping continues when it’s toys and DVDs, rather than necessarily the weekly groceries, that you need to transport.

Recycle batteries and old electrical items responsibly

If you’re expecting a gleaming new laptop, tablet or smartphone under the tree this Christmas, you’ll probably have certain old tech to get rid of – so may we suggest recycling it at your local household waste and recycling centre?

Batteries can be a particular issue, so you might decide to maximise your use of rechargeable batteries to reduce the number of batteries that you need to dispose of.

Give minimal-waste gifts

There are a lot of gifts that you can give – particularly experiences, rather than physical items – that generate little or no waste. What about an art gallery or museum ‘friends’ membership, tickets to a concert or sporting event, a gift card or candlelit dinner?

If you do buy a physical item rather than an ‘experience’ gift, try to make it a durable, high-quality one that will ultimately reduce waste by lasting longer before it needs to be disposed of.

Recycle your Christmas tree

Yes, even a real rather than artificial Christmas tree can be recycled, such as by cutting it up and placing it in the brown bin for collection, or taking it to a local household waste and recycling centre, at which it will be broken down with other green waste for composting.

Donate old Christmas decorations

There are always charity shops that are happy to accept your unwanted Christmas decorations if they are in acceptable condition, or you could even sell them at a car boot sale or flea market. You may even recycle your old Christmas lights to replace them with more energy-efficient LEDs.

Many of the aforementioned tips may seem to be obvious or ‘common sense’, but they can be so easily forgotten during the hectic Christmas and New Year period. All the best for your Christmas time ahead.

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