Reuse and Recycle: Holiday Decorations
This holiday season of giving, receiving, feasting, and decorating can come with some additional baggage—trash baggage, that is! There are numerous ways to reduce and re-use during this holiday season with some thoughtful planning and creative thinking. ‘Tis the season where more material is thrown away than any other time of year, so let’s all be more resourceful by reusing and recycling this Holiday Season!
Burnt Out Light Strings
Christmas lights seem pretty worthless once they burn out, but they’re actually a highly recyclable commodity. Light strings are made mostly from plastic, copper, and sometimes glass for older bulbs. Holidayleds.com has a Christmas Light Recycling program available for those strings that won’t turn on. It is easy to participate and they send you a coupon to use to purchase new lights. Check it out here https://www.holidayleds.com/christmas-light-recycling-program.aspx.
Another recycling program is Evironmentalled.com where you can mail in non-working Christmas lights. Read more here https://www.environmentalled.com/Christmas-Light-Recycling-24.html.
Green Your Tree, Wreaths & Garland (Of the Real Variety)
Show your greens the true meaning of the word by recycling your real tree, wreath and garland. First, be sure to strip the greenery of all its ornaments, lights and additional decorations. If you have the outdoor space, consider replanting your tree after the holidays. This requires some planning ahead, as you’ll need to source a tree that has its roots intact with a ball of earth contained in burlap.
If you’re tree-cycling your fir, check with your local boy scout troops, as many provide tree recycling services for a nominal fee wherein you may schedule a time for them to pick-up your tree, or you can drop it off at a specified time and location at which the troop is accepting trees for recycling.
Many municipal recycling services also offer Christmas tree recycling, so call your specific company for dates/times and details. If you have the resources, you can also chop up your holiday tree so it fits into your yard waste container, or chip it and use it as wood chip mulch.
Greeting Cards
The paper and resources required to send holiday greeting cards really stacks up when you factor in every single household that sends and receives good tidings in the mail. So why not repurpose those special holiday greetings? If you have a circular paper punch, you can cut out the pictures and use them as festive Mason jar lid covers for the next holiday season. Circles can also be glued together at the edges to create paper ornaments. If you have a rectangular or tag-shaped punch, you can make gift tags for next year’s presents.
If that’s a little too crafty, you can also donate a stack of greeting cards to the St. Jude’s Ranch for Children charity. They recycle the pictures onto new cards, which are then sold to benefit children’s programs.
Wrapping Paper
Gift wrap is expensive and creates unnecessary waste. Try reusing last year's gift bags and wrapping paper. Or make wrapping paper from scratch! Use the comic section of the weekly newspaper, old maps, magazines, or sheet music. Also try packaging the present in a gift itself such as decorative tins, jars, or colorful scarves.
