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Many of us will be looking forward to a Christmas filled with great food and exchanging gifts with family and friends. But the good times also mean the amount of waste produced typically increases by around a third over this period – that’s around 3 million tonnes extra across the UK.

However, with a little extra planning it’s easy to reduce your festive debris, and you could save some money or help someone less fortunate at the same time.

Gift wrapping. Please ensure wrapping paper goes into your recycling bin, UNLESS it has glitter or other plastic bits stuck to it. Ideally these types of wrapping should be avoided as they cannot be recycled.

To reduce your waste more, why not consider gift wrapping in fabric? It looks beautiful, is quicker and less messy than paper and sticky tape and can be reused over and over again.
 

Food Waste. Many of us stock up on food over the holidays, but this often leads to lots more being thrown away. Food waste should ideally go in your green bin or on your compost heap if you have one. It should never go in your blue recycling bin. You can put food waste in your black bin, but we should all avoid this as much as possible due to its negative environmental impact.

Food waste can be avoided with simple actions such as planning your food shop, checking your fridge to see what needs eating, and saving leftovers by putting them in the fridge or freezer. Think turkey sandwiches and turkey stew, check www.lovefoodhatewaste.com for lots of ideas.

Alternatively, Olio is a widely used app which lets you share unwanted food for free. Put a post up when you have too much food, or take someone else’s food if you don’t have enough.

 

Tree Recycling. Real or plastic? The debate rages on, but from an environmental and waste perspective the instructions are straightforward.

Real trees have the benefit that they will fully biodegrade in time. We will only collect Christmas trees that are cut into pieces 15cm (6”) or smaller and placed in your green bin. We will not accept trees or other items left by the side of your bins. Please ensure all decorations and lights have been removed. You can also bring whole trees to the recycling centre on Hunters Lane.

This year you can also sign up for the Pass The Smile charity Christmas tree collection, who will collect your tree from your doorstep. Read more and register your tree before January 8th https://just-helping.org.uk/collections/west-midlands-warwickshire-pass-the-smile-for-ben-myton-hospice-d/. Pass The Smile would also love to hear from anyone interested in volunteering for this wonderful cause.

Artificial trees have the benefit that they can be used for many years, although eventually they must be disposed of. Unfortunately these cannot be recycled and so must go in your black bin, or if it doesn’t fit then take it to the recycling centre on Hunters Lane.

Electrical waste and batteries. You treated the family to a new TV so you can finally watch Christmas TV in glorious 4K, but what to do with the old one? Please, do not put waste electricals in any of your household bins. While they cannot be recycled with your household waste, they still contain precious materials that should be reused. 

If your old electricals still work, you could generate some cash by selling to a local dealer, or through an online platform. If they are beyond repair, please take them to the recycling centre on Hunters Lane.

It is even more important to avoid putting any batteries in your bins, as these can and do cause fires. Many supermarkets now accept batteries, or you can bring them to Hunters Lane.