Reducing Holiday Waste
Reducing Waste over the Holiday Season
The holiday season is a special time of year where family and friends come together to celebrate. With these celebrations, extra gatherings and gift giving comes additional waste and energy use. Here are a few tips to reduce your environmental impact over the holidays.
Shopping for presents
- Consider ‘experience’ items such as theatre tickets, magazine subscriptions, music lessons, gym memberships or spa treatments, and/or gift certificates
- Make a donation to a local charity in place of a present
- Look for gifts at flea markets and vintage clothing or antique shops
- Buy gifts made from recycled products
- Purchase gifts with less store packaging
- Take your own reusable shopping bags
- Use rechargeable batteries for toys and electronics
- Create your own unique gift
Giving gifts and cards
- Send e-cards rather than paper cards
- Choose reusable gift bags or boxes instead of paper
- Create your own wrapping paper from comics or old maps
- Make the wrapping part of the gift (i.e. wrap kitchen items in tea towels)
- Don’t wrap stocking stuffers
- Look for cards and wrapping paper made from recycled paper and/or purchased from a charitable organization
Entertaining/Decorating
- Avoid using disposable plates, glasses, and utensils, or choose durable plastic ware designed for reuse
- Purchase local organic food and beverage products where possible
- Encourage guests to carpool or walk to your house
- Decorate your home using natural materials such as sprigs of holly, pinecones, and cedar or pine branches
Energy and Water Use
- Use light-emitting diode (LED) lights – these last longer and use 90 per cent less electricity than incandescent lights
- Use a timer to limit your light displays to six evening hours per day
- Use garland instead of lights
- Run the dishwasher only when it is full
- Wear more layers to save money on your heating bill, and consider a programmable thermostat to keep the temperature lower at night or when you are away
Other Tips
- Recycle your Christmas tree through your curbside pickup (mid-January) or at the compost transfer station
- Purchase a living Christmas tree that can be planted in your yard in the spring
- Remember to collect your blue bag items during the holidays, including paper gift wrap
- Donate used items in good condition
Thanks to the City of Spruce Grove for sharing some of this information.