Holiday Waste Reduction Tips
Americans throw away 25% more trash during the Thanksgiving to New Year's holiday period than any other time of year. The extra waste amounts to 25 million tons of garbage, or about 1 million extra tons per week.
Here are a few tips that can help you reduce holiday waste:
Christmas trees:
Remove lights, ornaments, tinsel and tree stands. Cut trees over 5 ft. tall in half and put trees on the street with your yard material for recycling. Trees should not be larger than 5 feet in any direction. Trees will be collected on your scheduled yard waste collection day.
Beverage containers:
A reminder: in Davis, aluminum cans, tin/steel cans, plastic #1(PETE), plastic #2 (HDPE), and glass bottles are accepted for recycling. Please place them in the appropriate recycling container.
Corrugated cardboard boxes:
Reuse
- Save for reuse as a storage container or for use as a gift box.
Recycle
- Remove all packing materials, flatten, and stack cardboard boxes next to other recyclables on the curb.
Non-corrugated cardboard (or paperboard) boxes:
Reuse
- Save for reuse as a storage container or gift box.
Recycle
- Recycle with mixed paper.
Packing Materials
Reuse
- Save polystyrene packing "peanuts" and bubble wrap for reuse when shipping presents.
- Bring polystyrene peanuts to Parcel Dispatch PDQ, Postmarks or The UPS Store. These and other mailing companies will accept these materials for reuse.
Wrapping paper:
Reuse
- Save as much of the wrapping paper as you can to reuse next year.
Recycle
- Recycle your wrapping paper with mixed paper recycling.
Cards:
Reuse
- Reuse cards as gift tags next year.
- Turn cards into bookmarks and use them as gifts next year.
Recycle
- Recycle gift cards with other paper.
Electronics:
When you receive a brand new computer or TV for Christmas, how do you get rid of the old one? As of February 2006, it is illegal to throw electronics in the garbage. There are other environmentally friendly ways to get rid of unwanted electronics:
Reuse:
- Donate your unwanted electronics to a local charity or thrift store. Check our online Recyclopedia to find locations that accept your used electronics. You can also look in the yellow pages under “Thrift Shops” and “Social and Human Services” for places that may accept items for donation.
Recycling:
- Monitors, TVs, cell phones, printers and all electronics are accepted for free recycling at the Yolo County Central Landfill (Road 28H & 104) on a daily basis during normal business hours. More information on free electronics recycling.
Other Waste-Reduction ideas for the Holidays:
- Skip the wrapping paper and just use a ribbon or yarn around the box or use a reusable bag.
- Buy rechargeable batteries to power up your new electronics. A rechargeable battery can be recharged about 500 times, so they last longer than regular alkaline batteries. Using rechargeable batteries means reducing waste and saving money! Remember to recycle your alkaline and rechargeable batteries!
- Re-gift unwanted items. Donate your unwanted electronics to a local charity or thrift store. Donate your unwanted electronics to a local charity or thrift store. Check our online Recyclopedia to find locations that accept your used electronics. You can also look in the yellow pages under “Thrift Shops” and “Social and Human Services” for places that may accept items for donation.
- Buy recycled products. Support recycling efforts by buying products that are made from recycled materials: wrapping paper, cards, clothing, and more!
- Buy in bulk. Whenever possible, buy products in bulk to reduce waste from product packaging.
- Save ribbons and bows. They can be reused next year.
- Bring your own bag when shopping. Reduce the number of shopping bags in landfills! Some stores offer a small refund when you bring your own shopping bags.
- Shop smart. Buy products with the least amount of packaging. Why pay extra for useless, extra packaging materials?
- Use re-useable wrapping. Use gift boxes and reusable bags for gifts instead of wrapping paper. Then reuse the bags and boxes next year!
- Check out the Green Gift Guide for more Green Holiday ideas www.greengiftguide.com