How to stay green after Christmas
Published:
TIS the season for giving, but ’tis also the season for chucking loads of stuff in the bin.
British households will chuck out more than three million tons of waste this Christmas, including cards, trees and food waste, according to recycling campaigner Recycle Now.
The organisation says 90% of adults want to recycle this holiday season – so here are some tips to help you do it:
FOOD WASTE
We tend to produce 20-30% more waste at Christmas than at any other time thanks to extra food, drinks and packaging.
But according to environmental charity Wastewatch, a massive 60% of household waste could either be recycled or composted instead of going to landfill.
By logging on to the Recycle Now website (www.recyclenow.com) you can find out what your local council picks up from your doorstep or your block of flats.
Glass, aluminium, plastic bottles and paper are all pretty standard these days, with many councils also offering green banks that can take what your kerbside scheme can’t.
All you need to do is contact your local council to be given a recycling bin or bags. Some councils also offer food recycling schemes.
CHRISTMAS CARDS
Most councils prefer not to take Christmas cards because of the glittery and shiny bits, but a scheme run jointly by the Woodland Trust and Recycle Now means that you can take your cards to WH Smith, Marks & Spencer, Tesco or TK Maxx stores – all you have to do is look out for the special recycling bins.
MOBILE PHONES
If you got a new mobile for Christmas, getting rid of your old phone safely helps cut down on your waste and also helps reduce the amount of toxic chemicals (such as mercury) and reusable elements (such as gold, silver and nickel) being sent to landfill.
Cashback solutions such as Envirofone (www.envirofone.com), MSN (www.msnmobilerecycling.com) or Fonebank (www.fonebank.com) can pay up to £180 for your old phone, which will be given a new lease of life in a developing country. Even if your phone is broken or old, you can still earn cashback.
If charity is more your thing, you can send your phone to Amnesty International (www.amnesty.org), Trees for Cities (www.treesforcities.org) or Oxfam (www.oxfam.org), among others.
Apple (www.apple.com/uk) will also take your old mobile or iPod and recycle it for you, free of charge.
TREES
About eight million Christmas trees were bought this year, according to Recycle Now, and if yours was the variety that can’t be replanted, your local council might be able to collect it and turn it into mulch and chippings.
You can also take it to your local recycling centre and put it in the green waste section.
If your Christmas tree was artificial, it can be donated to charity or listed on sites such as Gumtree (www.gumtree.com) or Freecycle (www.freecycle.org) where it can find a new home.
BOOKS
Did Aunty Velda give you a tome you are never going to read? If you can’t re-gift it to someone else, log on to Green Metropolis (www.greenmetropolis.com) which will buy your book from you (for a minimum of £3) and send 5p to the Woodland Trust’s Plant A Tree scheme.
CLOTHING
Most local councils provide clothing banks, as do charities such as the Salvation Army, Scope and Oxfam. Or why not host a clothes swap? Simply get together with some friends to exchange clothes and jewellery.
ELECTRONICS
Did you know that an iron has enough steel in it to make 13 food cans – or that hairdriers can be recycled into game consoles?
By logging on to the Recycle Now website you can find out which electricals you can recycle in your postcode or which retailers near you will take back your old electrical appliances.
