Tips to Reduce Holiday Waste
Celebrations and gifts will be at the forefront of the festivities. Presents ripped open, gift wrap and tissue paper, bags and boxes tore into in search for the of the perfect gift. There is bound to be piles of holiday waste in nearly every home. That translates to a whole lot of trash going to the landfill.
Not so good for the environment. The gift wrap industry earns roughly 2.6 billion in yearly retail sales, the bulk of it, Christmas. The United States produces 5 million tons of waste is during the holidays, 4 million tons of that are gift wrap and plastic bags, according to the Clean Air Council.
There are smarter solutions, and this is a perfect time of the year to practice reuse, reduce, and recycle wisely. It can be an educational lesson for kids too and teach them responsibility.
7 Ways to Reuse Holiday Waste
Look at some of the ways that you can reuse gift wrap and tissue paper, bows and ribbon, before you toss it out into the garbage. Don’t forget about those empty gift wrap cardboard rolls either, those are good for arts and crafts, and small furry pets love them!
- Arts and crafts are an excellent way to reduce holiday waste
- Holiday paper makes for excellent scrapbook matting.
- If you .actually have large enough chunks of surviving gift wrap, use it to re-wrap other gifts, or collect small bits of paper and make a collage.
- Shred the paper, and use it in gift bags throughout the year, or reuse the tissue paper.
- Save the boxes, for whenever you have a present to give that requires a box you will always have some on hand.
- Use the gift wrap for something like practicing origami and save the delicate pieces of paper for when you get the hang of it.
- The most significant way to reduce your contribution to holiday waste is to use environmentally responsible wrapping materials.
This year is a perfect time of the year to practice reuse, reduce, and recycle wisely. It can be an educational lesson for kids too and teach them environmental responsibility. These are just a few ways to reduce holiday waste before the big clean up. Can you think of more?