Green up Your Post-Holiday Clean up

Winter holidays, with all their fun decorations and gifts, can leave a lot of trash in their wake.

The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that the USA collectively produces five million extra tons of garbage between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day, a 25% increase compared to the rest of the year. Let's take a look at some tips and tricks that can help us cut down on all that waste.

First, let us consider Christmas trees.

Priority Waste will pick them up along with your trash and recycling, but only in the first two weeks of January, and they can't have any decorations, bags or tree stands left on them, but the good news is that they will recycle them for you. If you prefer a DIY approach, you can mulch them or find other uses.

Plastic trees offer a durable solution, but experts warn that they are carbon-intensive to manufacture, so it can take at least 20 years for fake trees to match the carbon impact of cut trees.

Other alternatives include potted trees, which can be kept alive and reused or replanted outdoors, and wooden fake trees, which are much less energy and resource-intensive to produce.

Next up, consider your holiday décor.

Strands of LED lights should last 8 to 10 years, though it is important to pack them gently and store them carefully to avoid damage and get the most out of them.

Strands that aren't working may simply need a new fuse, replacements that often come with the package when bought new, or just a bulb or two to be replaced. Fuses and light testers can be found at hardware stores and may help you reduce waste and save some money.

Ornaments and other seasonal decorations can last for decades if properly stored and cared for, but if your collection grows too large, this can become a challenge. Consider donating or recycling anything you aren’t thrilled about putting up so you can have the time and space to care for those that bring you joy.

Now, let's think about packaging.

This includes the usual waste culprits like shipping boxes, which we can reduce with a little pre-planning by asking online retailers to send fewer boxes, but also wrapping paper, ribbons, and bows.

Whenever possible, use materials you can reuse at least a few times. Gift bags can be especially great for this, as can things like real cloth ribbons or wrapping gifts in reusable cloth. When that won't work, pick materials that are more easily recycled than shiny or glossy papers and plastic ribbons or bows.

What should you do with used or unwanted items? 

One last thing to consider is what to do with old things being replaced by new gifts or unwanted gifts we might want to get rid of subtly.

Functional items can easily be donated, while broken things should be recycled or repurposed if possible.

Non-functioning electronics can be especially tricky, as they often contain toxic or otherwise dangerous materials, such as lead, which are known to leech into groundwater from landfills. They generally cannot be left out for curbside recycling and the like, but they can be recycled by specialists.

If you need help finding a place that can take your old electronics or any other waste you aren't sure what to do with, Earth911.com has a searchable database of recyclers for all kinds of materials.

However you celebrate, please consider helping the Earth while enjoying your winter holidays.