Jingle Bins: How to Reduce Household Waste This Christmas

While the spirit of Christmas is all about spending quality time with loved ones and appreciating what you have, many of us also use it as an excuse for a little bit of extravagance. After a long year, there’s nothing quite like indulging in delicious food and drink, decorating our homes from top to bottom and going overboard with expensive gifts. And while there’s nothing wrong with making Christmas exciting and memorable, our tendency to go above and beyond at this time of year does sadly come at an environmental cost.

While many consumers are wising up to the environmental impact of Christmastime and making eco-friendly adjustments where possible, the sheer amount of opportunities for excess waste production means that we as a nation have to make a conscious effort to stop taking part in waste disposal practices that can actively harm the planet. If you aren’t sure where to start, we’ve got you covered. In this blog you’ll find plenty of tips on how to make more sustainable choices when it comes to waste this Christmas.



Christmas Waste: The Facts

Before we dive into our Christmas waste disposal tips, let’s put things into perspective. It’s easy to disregard just how much we waste over the festive period - our minds preoccupied with family time, gifts and eating lots of food - but when you look at how much we as a nation produce each Christmas, the reality is often mind-boggling. Some of the most surprising statistics include:

●     13,350 tonnes of glass is binned over the Christmas period.

●     Brits eat around 175 million mince pies a year, creating 175 tonnes of aluminium packaging.

●     227,000 miles of wrapping paper is used each year.

●     The volume of card material consumed at Christmas would reach between London and Lapland 100 times.

●     One tree creates 3,000 Christmas cards, but as the average person sends and receives 17 cards, a single tree is only enough for 176 people to send cards.

●     On their busiest day in the lead-up to the big day, Amazon receives 47 orders per second.

●     The average UK household throws away three and a half black bags worth of packaging.

●     7 in 10 people willingly admit to buying far more food than they actually need over the festive period, leading to higher volumes of waste.

These stats are just a tiny fraction of the information we have regarding how much waste the UK produces at Christmastime, but it’s still clear to see just how significant the environmental implications of this kind of excess can be. If you want to make some sustainable changes this Christmas, read our tips on how to not only reduce, but also responsibly dispose of waste over the holiday season.

Tips for Reducing Your Christmas Waste

Food Waste

From turkey to mince pies, Christmas puddings to roast vegetables: it’s safe to say that we go through an insane amount of food over the holiday season. While it’s reasonable to want to make sure you have enough food to properly indulge over Christmas, this frequently translates to people buying far more than they actually need and, by extension, throwing a lot of it away. While the staggering volumes of food and packaging waste we produce at Christmas create huge problems for landfill sites, the ongoing cost of living crisis also means that food poverty is also a mounting issue, with countless families across the country struggling to afford a proper food shop. With this in mind, here are some changes you can make to your festive food consumption that will still allow you to have a delicious Christmas.

Plan Ahead

You’ll be surprised just how much waste you’ll cut out if you go into your Christmas food shop armed with a thorough list. While it’s fine to pick up a couple of spontaneous treats and trimmings on your way around the supermarket, being realistic about your household’s food needs - from snacks to the main event - will reduce the likelihood of excess waste.

Use Common Sense

When it comes to knowing when to throw away stale produce, use common sense. As part of their commitment to reduce food waste by 50% by 2030, as of last year Morrisons has scrapped sell-by-dates on their fresh fruit and veg to encourage shoppers to make their own judgement and not throw food away prematurely at Christmas. It’s worth always giving your product the benefit of the doubt unless it’s too far gone to be used.

Love Your Leftovers

When properly stored, most surplus food can be repurposed into a new meal. Try working your leftovers into your Christmas meal plan. Think sandwiches, soups, stock, pies, stir fries - get creative!

Composting

Finally, don’t forget that peelings and raw produce that’s expired should always go in your compost bin!

Trees & Decorations

With the Christmas tree being such a classic symbol of Christmas tradition in the Western world, it’s no wonder that in the UK we throw away 8 million trees each year when January rolls around. Combine this with the sheer amount of lights, baubles and tinsel we get through, and that’s a lot of waste! In light of this, you might want to take a ‘less is more’ approach to Christmas decorating this year.

Zero-Waste Decorations

Tinsel and many other classic tree baubles are all made of plastic and cannot be recycled, so they all end up in landfills. Try swapping these out for recyclable alternatives or, if you’re feeling creative, make your own! Not only are homemade decorations like pom poms, garlands and bunting all much kinder to the environment, but are also an excuse to spend quality time as a family making something together - a great way to keep the kids occupied!

Fix Your Fairy Lights

When your fairy lights start getting faulty, it can be easy to want to throw in the towel and bin them. However, don’t give up on them too soon: with a bit of patience, determination and Googling, you might be able to breathe new life into them for another year.

Recycle Your Tree

Did you know that you can recycle Christmas trees, free of charge, at most household waste disposal centres? While real Christmas trees can be placed in the site’s garden waste skip, where they will be shredded and composted, some artificial Christmas trees (depending on the materials) can be deposited in either the small appliance, plastic reuse or scrap metal containers. Rather than leaving your tree out for the bin men this year, taking it to the local tip is a great way to reduce the amount of waste you send to landfills.

Wrapping Paper & Cards

While delicately wrapped presents and seasonal cards are a lovely sentiment, it’s worth remembering that practically all of this paper, card and other materials will end up in the bin post-Christmas. While there are some eco-friendly alternatives you can make, you might want to consider cutting out other traditions if you want to reduce your wrapping and card waste this Christmas.

Eco-Friendly Alternatives

There are plenty of alternatives to traditional wrapping paper that are more environmentally-friendly, such as brown parcel paper or newspaper. While these materials aren’t as naturally pretty, they can easily be embellished with some festive stamps, some yarn or even a natural element like a sprig of holly. You could even make use of any wrapping paper you used last year if you managed to save any.

Avoid Christmas Cards

While it might feel wrong to tell people you won’t be sending cards this year, there are other ways you can spread some Christmas cheer to loved ones, like making a donation to a charity dear to you or a loved one. Not only will you be reducing waste, you’ll also be giving back to someone in need.

Recycle Properly

There are a few nuances to properly recycling wrapping and card waste that you might not be aware of, including:

●     It’s important to remove any plastic bows or ribbons before recycling wrapping paper, as these can be reused.

●     If wrapping paper holds its shape when scrunched into a ball, it’s recyclable; if it springs back, it’s not.

●     Try avoiding cards with glitter, as this cannot be recycled.

●     If you do happen to use glitter, avoid tipping it down the sink. Glitter that you cannot store or reuse should be disposed of as general waste.

Looking for Recycling Services in West Scotland?

It’s a common misconception that all waste you dispose of will eventually end up in a landfill and will stay there. Fortunately, however, here at William Thompson & Son we strive to make our services as eco-friendly as possible for the good of the planet. This includes separating out any recyclable materials that come from our waste removal and recycling services. 

Not only is our waste disposal service fully licensed and certified, but we can also collect your waste directly from your site for processing at our premises. So if you’re after a sustainable landfill solution in West Scotland, get in touch today.