How do you recycle at Christmas?(online surveys)
While I enjoy Christmas as much as the next person, as the holiday gets closer and closer and the excitement grows, I can’t help but think of what heaping piles of waste associated with the joyous holiday does to the earth.
Wrapping paper is sent to landfills and trash because they can’t be recycled with metallic dyes and designs, Christmas trees are cut down for the sole purpose of short term decoration, excessive amount of energy used with all the Christmas lights decorating homes, and greeting cards, which will be thrown out after delivering the simple “Merry Christmas” message to a loved one are examples. Thinking this way provoked the desire to be knowledgeable of how to recycle at Christmas time and be able to inform others of my findings to have a green Christmas.
After asking around, it seems the most common ways of recycling during the holiday season is to wrap presents in recyclable material including boxes, newspaper, or brown bags, all items that one should be able to find at a cheap or even no cost. The downside to this of course, is that the gifts don’t look as nice. Solution: decorate the boxes, bags, and newspaper with markers and crayons, creating a truly original and fun craft. Recipients of the gift may even be happier this kind of gift wrap knowing they are helping the earth and the giver devoted time and effort into wrapping their present.
If you are stuck on the idea of using wrapping paper, buy the paper made from recycled content from charity groups. Open the paper slowly and carefully, insuring it’s ability to be recycled.
For loved ones who are hard to shop for, eliminate wrapping paper completely. Purchase a gift certificate, place it in an envelope, punch a hole in the envelope, add colorful ribbon, and use the gift as an alternative to Christmas ornaments, insuring your tree is creative and beautiful and the recipient of the gift will find it useful.
