Along with all the joy the holiday season brings, it also brings a fair amount of waste along with it. Here are a few ways to cut down on waste throughout this holiday season.
Switch Up Your Holiday Cards
This year, pay attention to the material that your holiday cards are made on. If you want to send paper holiday cards, make sure that they are made from recycled-content. They should state on the package that they are made from post-consumer recycled material.
Or, instead of sending paper cards, send your friends and relatives customized e-cards instead. You can even mix it up and send e-cards to your friends and family that use technology, and send recycled holiday cards to your friends and relatives that don't get online.
Give Minimal Waste Gifts
Change up your idea of gift giving this holiday season. This year, give your friends and family the gift of an experience. Some ideas of an experience based gift that create minimal waste and require minimal wrapping include:
- Tickets to a sporting event
- Tickets to a concert
- Passes to a theme park
- Gift certificate to dinner
- Gift certificate for a massage or spa day
- Membership to the local zoo
- Membership to the local museum
- Gym membership for a year
All of these gifts will create very minimal waste. Any paper waste created via these gifts can be recycled or they can be preserved in a scrapbook. This types of gifts can also be a great way to find a present for those hard to shop for relatives and friends.
Wrap Your Gifts Up Differently
Gift wrap can create a significant amount of waste during the holiday season. Instead of wrapping your gifts in wrapping paper, get creative this holiday season. Try one of these suggestions instead:
- Newspaper
- Comic section from the newspaper
- Old magazines
- Old calendars
- Reusable shopping bag
- Old poster
- Old map
- Scarf
- Bandanna
- Children's artwork
The suggestions above will allow you to recycle and reduce waste at the same time. You can easily take the newspaper, magazines, calendars, posters and maps and put them in the paper waste recycling bin (or contact a curbside recycling company like Industrial Services Inc). Gift wrapping suggestions such as a reusable shopping bag, a scarf, or a bandanna can be used for their intended purpose. Children's artwork, if unwrapped properly, can be displayed.
Minimize your holiday waste this year by changing your holiday card giving habits and your gift giving habits. Try to work at least a few of the suggestions above into your holiday season in order to reduce the amount of waste that you create this year.
