With Christmas just knocking at the door, you should know that household wastes should be cleared properly so that the New Year is full of joy and happiness. Your waste should get disposed off to the landfills and then decomposed to produce “landfill gas”. The gas is a combination of greenhouse gasses which include – carbon dioxide, water vapour and methane. Besides, methane makes landfill gas to stand out and landfills are the third-largest source of human-related methane emissions.
How to lessen Christmas Waste this year and next
Though winter holidays bring good company, they push lots more solid waste into the landfill and cause harm to the environment.
Below are some environment-friendly tips for less wasteful holiday as gift wrap can be used once and then thrown away.
- When shopping this year: Try to use reusable shopping bags as they are more robust than traditional plastic bags. Also, they protect the purchases in a better way and lessen the amount of plastic and paper.
- Avoid using paper entirely: If you can, try to use reusable decorative boxes, baskets and tins. When you buy wrapping paper, look for paper made of recycled paper. Reusable cloth ribbons may double as a headband than plastic bows.
- When unwrapping gifts: You can save wrappings carefully for reuse next year.
These are some of the tips of Christmas waste iceberg. Here are some more ideas to take into consideration.
Find gifts with some message for the environment
Are you looking for the gifts that keep your friends and family centered on the planet? If yes, then this is always a good idea and you can start with these creative ideas.
- Nature books
- Battery recharger
- Refillable thermos bottles
- Items made from recycled materials
- Canvas tote bag
You may choose solar-powered than battery-powered products or the ones that require no power at all. Other environment-friendly gifts are homemade gifts like bread, cookies, jams or home-baked pies. Perhaps, you can give gifts for everyday use such as – soap, candles or seeds for the next year’s vegetable garden.
Lastly, if you want to send holiday cards, then choose the ones that are made of recycled paper. Keep an eye out for cards with glossy, gold or shiny foil coatings since most of them cannot be recycled. Then save cards you get in the mail, cut off front pictures and reuse them as “postcards” for the next year. This can saves on postage charges too. You can also send “electronic cards” or make a video call.
Waste reduction gifts
Carbon dioxide is the first among other primary ingredient in landfill gas. But do you know that carbon dioxide is the second-most prevalent greenhouse gas emitted from human activity? Regretfully, methane is a greenhouse gas which can impact climate change more than 25 times than carbon dioxide.
Below are some of the favourite waste-reducing gift ideas:
Are you thinking to reuse reusing old gift wrap? If yes, then you obviously want to be creative with older maps, magazine pages, newspapers or other papers.
The idea of coupon book
You can share the idea of gifting a coupon book to someone who really appreciates it. Try out the following ideas:
- Babysitting for your family member or friend
- Volunteer time to help someone for cleaning up their yard
- Preparing dishes for grandmother
- Cleaning the house for your friend
- Car detailing for your dad
- and much more
Gifts to the environment
You can give different gifts to the planet in several ways during the holiday season. Buy a Christmas tree and then replant it after the after holidays! Besides, you may buy live plants, bird seed, gardening tools, train and bus passes, battery chargers, walking shoes or bicycles.
Reuse and recycle to lessen Christmas waste
Though holidays provide several opportunities to collect and clean waste, it is certainly a good idea to approach season with proper planning. When recycling bin is completely full but organized and trash can is empty, you will feel some kind of accomplishment for helping the planet. You can set out Christmas tree for recycling at the right time when packing for holiday decorations. Different waste management systems in London collect trees for a few weeks after Christmas. Wrapping paper is not recyclable though most use metallic or glitter materials. But the recyclable types usually get tossed in the trash.
The gift of outings or trips
You can support local businesses by sharing the idea of trips or outings to visitors. Some places to send your loved ones in this coming year are:
- Museums and zoos are a great way to spend valuable time.
- State parks have history adventures as well as fauna and flora adventures.
- Schedule and plan for the beach trips.
- Outdoor days of canoeing or kayaking
- Take hiking for a day
- Encourage stargazing night
- Plan for the picnic with a basket
- Gift cards are appreciated by several people
- Dinner at your favorite restaurant or movie theater.
- Plan for a spa
DIY and handmade gifts
You can make gifts by filling a basket with baked goods, reusable box of favorite recipes or create holiday bouquet from fresh greens. If you are creative, prepare Christmas ornaments from family photos or make slideshow of pictures on a digital frame. When choosing reusable cloth, try to wrap small gifts in a handkerchief and use it every year. Other eco-friendly options for gift wrap are – reusable to bags and Mason jars. So, become creative this year and reduce waste quickly.
Thus, you need to hire professionals who can help with waste collection services in London to make the area clean and dirt-free. As life becomes hectic during the holidays, these specialists can take care of your waste clearance requirements. They can also help with removing old furniture, bedroom furniture, kitchen appliances and more. After the holidays are over, you will be all set to make some upgrades and clean rooms to make space for new gifts.
