Merry Christmas
Christmas is a time for joy. The beautiful tree, the delicious food, the thoughtful gifts and Christmas films thrown in too. Enjoying Christmas is something we all want to do after a long and challenging 2020.
The amount of waste produced generally increases during the festive period. This means it has an impact on our environment.
This Christmas, if you can, why not consider a detailed meal plan, some ‘green’ gifts or buying recyclable wrapping paper. These small actions can make a big difference. In this bulletin, we talk about how to make sure your Christmas is not just merry but kind to our planet (and in some cases, kind to your pocket).
Green Gifts
There are so many ways you can make your gifts ‘green’ this Christmas. You can shop locally, look on charity websites for gifts or you can make your own. There are so many DIY gift ideas to help you reuse items around your home. To give you some inspiration, here is a blog post with just a few ideas to try.
DIY gifts are fun to do, feel more personal and might also save you money. Plus, they give used items a new life and bring enjoyment to someone you love.
Items that are often accumulated around the home this time of year may include the large chocolate tubs and tins. These items would make great gift boxes and good to create hampers!
Reuse or Recycle Wrapping Paper
Waste Statistic: An estimated 108 million rolls of wrapping are used each year, often not being recycled and placed in the waste bin.
Choose paper wrapping paper (without glitter, foil decoration or patterns) as this can be recycled. You’ll need to be sure to take any sticky tape off the paper before putting paper in the recycling bin. Or, if paper is taken off carefully, can sometimes be reused next year.
A new life for Christmas cards
Waste statistic: 1 billion cards end up in the bin, when they could be recycled.
There are so many options with Christmas cards. Why not send Christmas e-cards this year or take a festive family photo and share with friends digitally to save paper and postage.
If you receive cards, you could cut out any images on the cards, hole punch and tie a string or ribbon to it to make a nice Christmas gift tag this year or next.
Recycling Advent Calendars
Most advent calendars these days are made of a composite of plastic and foil in a cardboard sleeve. It is this mix of materials which make them difficult to recycle as a single item.
To help, separate the different materials and recycle separately. The card and plastic should be recyclable but the foil might not be.
Or, you can create your own advent calendar.
You could perhaps make a fabric advent calendar with pockets and put a treat in each pocket, or, create an advent hunt where you search for the treat in the house each day.
Reducing Food Waste
Waste Statistic: A UK household wastes on average the equivalent of eight meals a week
It is easy to get carried away when it comes to Christmas. It’s nice to spoil ourselves and our families but when buying, having a meal plan does help to make good food shopping decisions and helps manage quantity too.
Also take time to research leftover recipes using the food you usually have left after Christmas. Making use of every scrap of food makes a difference and helps you save money too.
A little tip, keeping your fridge below 5 degrees Celsius can keep food fresher for longer.
Glass
Glass is a great recyclable material as it can be recycled multiple times. There are lots of ways to recycle glass:
Pyrex, broken glass, drinking glasses, spectacles, light bulbs and florescent tubes cannot be recycled using the facilities listed but can be taken to your local recycling centre.
Christmas Lights
If you're getting the Christmas decorations ready for going up and have just discovered that the lights are faulty, take them to your local recycling centre rather than putting them in the kerbside bins at home.
Don't forget you can recycle broken electrical or old electronic items you no longer need at our recycling centres, from electric toothbrushes, old hairdryers, kettles to phone chargers.
These products all contain valuable components that can be reused and/or recycled so keep them out of the bin if you can.
Being Responsible with Waste
Fly-tipping is a serious crime and is hazardous to members of the public, wildlife and our environment. If you are looking to remove waste from your home, here are some points to consider:
- Make sure if you have hired a contractor, that they have the relevant waste carriers license
- You can take waste to the local recycle centres in the borough
- Book onto the councils Bulky Waste Service. Look out for the next free Bulky Waste Week collections coming in January 2021 (more details available soon).
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Visit our fly tipping page to find out more
- To report Fly tipping, contact Neighbourhood.wardens@broxtowe.gov.uk
Next free bulky waste collections week in January and February. Please check bulletins for updates.
Recycling Centres Opening Times
Throughout December, January and February the recycling centres will be open 8am- 4pm.
The county's recycling centres are open every day apart from Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day.
So, if you have surplus items you need to get rid of, remember this is a good way to make sure anything that can be recycled, is recycled.
Free Bulky Waste Weeks
Thank you to everyone who contacted us about the free bulky waste week starting 7th December. The week filled up with bookings within the first day, showing how much you value this service.
If you didn’t get a slot this time, we are having free bulky waste weeks in January and February 2021. Dates and how to book will be shared soon.
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