How to Reduce Waste at Christmas – 5 Easy Ways
Your Waste Gone – eco friendly House Clearance and rubbish removal services share five easy ways to help you cut down on your waste production this Christmas.
Use Recyclable wrapping
Throw-away wrapping paper is extremely wasteful. Sure, it’s great for making your gifts look nice but once the paper is ripped off its simply forgotten about and thrown away before it’s sent to landfill, where it will most likely sit for the next 50-100 years! Using recyclable or reusable wrapping paper is a great way to cut down on Christmas waste and it can be just as beautiful as non-recyclable plastic paper. Kraft paper is an excellent option as it gives gifts a really rustic look. It’s also a lot cheaper than standard wrapping paper. Decorate it with some jute twine, threaded with some dried orange slices and finish by tying a bow on the top around a couple of cinnamon sticks.
Buy Second Hand Gifts
Just because something is second hand doesn’t mean it’s less special. If you want to save money and reduce your waste this Christmas second hand gifts are a great way to go. When we buy someone a brand new gift, not only are we creating waste through the packaging, the process to make the new item also creates a lot of unnecessary waste too. Toys are fantastic gifts to buy second hand as children quickly develop new interests, which means there are many toys on the second hand market which have hardly been touched! Try your local Facebook market place, Ebay and Freecycle for good as new toys!
Other gifts such as electronics, books, jewellery and even clothing can all be found in great condition at second hand prices with a bit of digging.
Compost Your Leftovers
Composting is an excellent way to reduce waste at any time of year, but over Christmas, we all tend to stock up on a lot more food than we need which is why it’s so important to consider how your food waste will be discarded. When in landfill, food waste produces methane and carbon dioxide and cannot decompose properly. Composting allows your food waste to decompose naturally and turn into something useful. Compost bins can be found fairly cheap or you could even make your own! This would also make a great Christmas gift for your eco-conscious or gardener friend.
Recycle Your Batteries
Batteries seem to be in abundance at Christmas time; whether it’s to power festive lights, new toys or gadgets, we all rely on them a lot more over the festive period. You may have noticed that your batteries have a small symbol printed on them indicating not to throw them into your household rubbish. This is because when thrown into landfill, batteries can cause landfill fires. To dispose of your batteries responsibly, take them to your local battery recycling point. These can be found in most supermarkets at household recycling centres and some electronic retailers.
Buy Less
The excitement (or stress) of Christmas can easily cause us to buy way more than we need, whether it’s on food, presents or even ourselves, the pressure to host the perfect Christmas or give the perfect gift is all too real! However, excessive buying only results in excessive waste. Take the pressure off yourself this year and cut down your buying habits. Instead of showering your friends and family with an excess of gifts, take the time to find one, special present that they will really treasure. If you’re hosting this Christmas, try not to over-do it with food. Instead, focus on enjoying time spent with your family.