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Christmas is the season of glorious, indulgent consumption.
Christmas is the season of glorious, indulgent consumption. Be it food, presents, new clothes – we are all guilty of using the season of goodwill to indulge in the joy of excess. Unfortunately, in our increasingly disposable age, it is all to easy to forget recycling and chuck everything out in black bags. Equally, for those that do try their best to recycle, the hectic schedule of family events, office parties and so on mean that waste items can end up in the wrong recycling bin. This creates a headache for waste collectors and negates your best efforts to help the environment.
So here are some helpful tips to help you to stay eco-friendly this Christmas season:
1. Make sure you have plenty of recycle bins to hand in various parts of the home and office. For example, consider placing a special wrapping-paper container in the living room for Christmas morning. Or place containers for glass bottles in each corner of the office for the night of your party. The easier we make it for people to pop items into the right container, the higher the chances they will do so.
2. Keep plastic bags away from recycling areas and ensure everyone knows they must not go in recycling bins. Plastic bags get caught up in recycling equipment at recycling plants, so it’s important to separate them out.
3. Rinse jars lightly, they don’t need to be spotless! When recycling glass or plastic containers, it’s a good idea to lightly rinse them in order that they aren’t festering in your recycle bins. But avoid over washing, which will use excess water and detergent, and negate the whole point of recycling!
4. Paper plates, cups and napkins can’t be recycled, but are often biodegradable so don’t just throw them in your regular rubbish bin – as long as they aren’t mixed with plastics, you can compost them. Generally it’s best to avoid using disposables altogether though, and embrace the washing up as a fun event – singing along to Christmas tunes and picking at leftovers at the same time certainly helps motivate family and friends!
5. Inevitably the increase in online purchases means we all have loads of cardboard boxes to get rid of. Make sure to empty them of packing material, but don’t worry too much about the odd strip of packing tape on the outside. Be sure to flatten them down as much as possible so they don’t use up excessive space.
6. Lastly, avoid shiny wrapping papers. It’s an easy mistake to make, but these papers can’t actually be recycled at all, and neither can many ribbons or other present decorations. Instead, look around the web for eco friendly gift sites that sell recyclable wrapping paper and gifts. Or, to keep things really cheap, stylish and to showcase your green credentials, use newspaper to wrap gifts!
This Christmas, lessen your guilt by taking a little extra time over your recycling and be reassured that you are doing your bit to save the planet.
