Reduce waste at Christmas

If you’re feeling festive and planning for Christmas then we’ve pulled together all you need to know this Christmas-time to reduce waste and save money.

Make a meal of planning

Somerset is recycling more food waste than ever – but after Christmas food waste often rises. Last year, during last week of December, food waste rose by 31 tonnes each day, to 118.5 tonnes. That’s like throwing out 148,000 Christmas puddings everyday!

It’s good it’s being recycled, but cutting food waste altogether is even better for the environment.

Meal planning for the festive period means buying only what you need and eating all you buy. Planning a few things from the freezer can help avoid wasting food by giving greater flexibility to cater for unexpected guests or if you decide to eat elsewhere. Planning ahead can also help to keep costs down, visit the Love Food Hate Waste website for recipes and ideas for using up leftovers.

Cut the card to help the planet and the Somerset economy

Another way to reduce waste at Christmas is to think outside the box and avoid buying presents that need packaging.

This year, one week in January saw an extra 86 tonnes of cardboard each day. That’s an extra 431 tonnes (or the weight of 2,600 reindeer) on top of the usual weekly average of 361 tonnes, bringing that week’s total cardboard to 792 tonnes.

What can you do to help stop the surge?

• Buy gifts that don’t need boxes – vouchers for restaurants, attractions or pampering treatments; subscriptions for a streaming service; or memberships for trusts or clubs.
• Go off-line – shop on the High Street and cut out the extra packaging that comes with online delivery.
• Shop on-line but local – local retailers can often deliver to your door and they tend to use less packaging than the big multi-nationals.