The Environment

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Cutting back on Christmas Waste

Protect our environment and preserve our natural resources with a few simple ideas.

Christmas – the season of fun, family and no small amount of indulgence! It’s unfortunately true to add that the seasonal increase in eating, drinking and spending will also result in an estimated 3 million tonnes of waste.

However, there’s no place for a bah-humbug attitude at Christmas; with a little thought and preparation, you can limit the impact you have on the environment and still have a great time. First though, let’s look at the true nature of the problem. Some of the statistics are pretty scary:

• The Royal Mail delivers around 150 million cards and packets each day during the pre-Christmas period. It is estimated that up to 1 billion Christmas cards (17 for every man, woman and child) could end up in bins across the UK.
• It is estimated that over Christmas as much as 83 square km of wrapping paper will end up in UK rubbish bins, enough to cover an area larger than Guernsey.
• We could use an extra 750 million bottles and glass containers, and 500 million drinks cans. About 20% to 30% more glass and cans are collected each year over the Christmas period.

We need to find ways to not only recycle more, but also to reduce our waste. This means focussing our efforts and changing habits – and there’s no better time to do this then at Christmas, as we begin to think about a New Years’ resolution!

Here are some simple, manageable and practical steps towards environmental responsibility at Christmas time:

Eat, drink… and recycle

When you’re doing your Christmas food shop, avoid goods which involve over-complicated packaging or that which includes mixed material packaging which can make recycling difficult. Try to buy food and drink packaged in materials that can be recycled in your area, such as paper and glass. Order any extra milk in returnable bottles from the milkman to avoid plastic bottles or cartons from the supermarket. Buy drinks, like lemonade or beer, in large containers, rather than in a lot of small ones. One large bottle results in less waste than a lot of small cans and it's more economical. And avoid using paper plates, cups and serviettes if you are planning a party.

Shop outside the box!

Buy gifts which are durable. Look for alternatives to those gifts that rely on disposable parts, e.g. a coffee maker that uses a washable filter rather than throwaway paper ones, or a wind-up/solar powered radio.

Buy Recycled! Buying products that have a recycled content is just as important as actually recycling. It is essential that markets for recycled products are developed. Look out for unusual gifts made from recycled materials, such as glass tableware, stationery or photo frames. The Recycled Products Guide is a searchable directory of products made from recycled materials and contains over 1,000 products. www.recycledproducts.org.uk.

If you're not sure what to buy, why not give money or gift vouchers? You can buy garden centre, cinema or theatre ticket vouchers as well as vouchers for use in high street stores and book shops.

How about buying a gift that will last for a whole year? Examples include: sponsorship of an animal, membership of an organisation or a subscription to a magazine.

Consider buying presents that are environmentally friendly or produced in a sustainable way. Support your local charity shop, buy presents from charity catalogues and look for Fair Trade alternatives.

Wrapping and decorating

Choose decorations which can be reused, rather than flimsy ones which will be used once and then thrown away. You can also have fun making decorations from scrap materials. Cut down on what you buy. Gift tags can be made from old greetings cards. Any kind of unusual paper can be used to wrap gifts.

Buy recycled wrapping paper and use string, ribbon or wool for wrapping gifts, rather than using sticky tape. The string and paper can then be reused.

Recycling Christmas cards and trees

The Woodland Trust has announced that people will be able to recycle their Christmas cards at all WH Smith high street stores and all major Tesco stores across the UK, following Christmas 2005. The scheme, is being launched on the 2nd January 2006, although bins will be present throughout January. Last year's campaign ensured the recycling of 58 million Christmas cards (the equivalent 1150 tonnes!), and the Trust are aiming to beat the 60 million mark this time.

Buy a UK-grown real tree with roots that can be planted in your garden or kept in a pot for next year. Artificial trees are a good alternative as they can be used many times, but as they are usually made of a number of different materials, including plastics, they are difficult to recycle once they are no longer required.

Make a resolution to reduce, reuse and recycle as much as you can in 2006. Start by finding out where your local recycling centre is and which materials you can take there to recycle: visit www.recyclenow.com to find your nearest recycling centre.

Article courtesy of Buckingham Colour Press