There is a lot of waste at Christmastime, whether it’s non-recyclable wrapping paper, plastic toys or an excess of food packaging that gets thrown in the bin. However, there are some ways to limit your waste over the festive period.
Avoid plastic
It can certainly be difficult to avoid plastic if you have children but try to buy things that haven’t got lots of unnecessary packaging or will break and thrown in the bin before New Year’s.
According to Wildlife and Countryside, 114,000 tonnes of plastic packaging is thrown away at Christmas, which is the equivalent weight of 3.3 million Emperor penguins.
Regift
Something that is good for the environment and will save you money, which everyone will be keen to do this Christmas, is regifting presents or buying them second-hand. You can give away unwanted toys or clothes, or look for pre-loved items online.
Your kids, friends or family are unlikely to know, and you’ll stop more things going to landfill sites.
Use recyclable wrapping
You might be surprised to hear 88 square kilometres of wrapping paper is typically used during the holidays, and lots of this is non-recyclable.
According to Recycle Now, any paper with sticky tape, decorations, foil, or glitter cannot be recycled. Therefore, it is wise to make sure you get rid of these when unwrapping a present before you recycle it.
Alternatively, you can wrap your gifts in recycled or FSC-certified paper, use a cloth instead, use plain brown parcel paper, or re-use old paper, such as calendars and newspapers.
Reduce food waste
So much food is bought at Christmas, which inevitably leads to lots thrown out. In fact, as much as two million turkeys, five million puddings and 74 million mince pies go to waste every year, according to the Soil Association.
To reduce this, why not use up leftovers after Christmas Day by making curries, pies, bubble and squeak and frittatas?
Visit Mrs Greens eco-store for more sustainable ideas this Christmas.
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