���˿���

Turkey, trimmings, presents – check! Your Christmas has been stuffed with good cheer.

But have you ever found that after clean-up your bins are stuffed to the brim too? According to sustainability charity WRAP, people are keener than ever to reduce waste after the big day, with ‘wrapping paper’ and ‘Christmas tree’ being the top-searched terms on recycling portals during Christmas week in 2019.

With food, decorations and presents galore being a key part of the festive season, you might find yourself feeling extra conscious about having a good time while taking care of the planet. The Regenerators from ���˿��� Bitesize have come up with a few tips and ideas to reduce waste following Christmas, so you can be as green as Santa’s original suit.

That’s a wrap on plastic-coated paper

Many wrapping papers are coated in plastic, making them difficult to recycle, but there are plenty of ways to minimise paper waste when it comes to presents and cards. Take care when unwrapping on Christmas morning and keep the paper, then you can easily put bigger pieces away to reuse for birthdays, next year’s holidays or any other creative projects.

For example, long scraps that aren’t big enough for a present – or are too shiny to recycle – could be made into origami star decorations for the tree. Similarly, you can cut up all your Christmas cards and repurpose them as gift tags to save yourself some pennies for next year.

Thinking ahead: using recyclable paper (paper without a plastic coating, microplastic glitter, or other materials which are difficult to recycle) is always a good option for next year. Try using paper ribbon, string or twine to twist your presents closed instead of sticky tape and other adhesives. You could even go old-school and wrap gifts in newspaper or brown paper and pen your own designs!

A new take on Boxing Day

Nowadays many shops are taking a no-plastic approach to packaging – but that can still leave you with more boxes than you can shake a candy cane at. While recycling cardboard can reduce wastefulness, the UK currently only has a 46.2% recycling rate overall, meaning some of it can end up in landfill, which produces greenhouse gas emissions and can contribute to climate change.

This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t recycle – but why not try upcycling too? There are plenty of ways to upcycle any plastic or cardboard boxes that have contained toys and electronics.

Those familiar with the Konmari method will know boxes are a great way to keep drawers organised – you could even use wrapping paper that you like to decorate the boxes and then stick them together to keep makeup, stationary or odd bits and bobs neat and tidy. Boxes can also be used for sending packages, making foraging boxes for your pets, craft storage, games, costume pieces and Christmas decorations. Add your own (recyclable) art and they could even turn into unique gift boxes for the next birthday present on your list.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle – and Return

We tend to grin and bear the gifts we don’t want, then throw them in the rubbish or let them hang around the house for decades taking up space. Find the power in saying thanks but no thanks – returning or swapping a gift or garment will always be better than throwing it out, and the gift-giver will know for next time. Likewise, regifting or passing it on to a charity shop means someone else can enjoy it and you don’t have to worry about waste.

Extra tip: Have you been gifted a whole new wardrobe and need to make room, but your old clothes are not in good enough nick for the charity shop? Keeping old T-shirts can be a fantastic way to wrap next year’s presents rather than throwing them out. Simply cut out the most usable material, bundle your gifts and secure with string or twine for a perfect zero-waste package to pass on and use again and again.

Or keep as many scraps as you can to refashion a plain old jumper into a unique and original Christmas jumper ready for next year!

Please sir, I want some more… tomorrow!

It’s estimated that the UK throws out 7 million tonnes of food waste each year. Reducing food waste on Christmas day takes a little bit of forward planning: portion control, knowing everyone’s likes and dislikes and avoiding individually wrapped treats. But even then, how can we reduce waste after we’re stuffed like turkeys?

First, it’s good to have an idea of what packaging can be recycled locally, and whether food residue can affect what can make it into the bin. Any plastic or glass containers that can be well washed can be upcycled to store other things. For example, cranberry sauce jars are excellent for storing spices and cereals. As for any food left, making bubble and squeak is a very classic British way to use up any trimmings from the day before and keep you from getting bored of picking at leftovers. If you live near a farm, you could also try reaching out and asking whether they collect food scraps. Otherwise, compost as much as you can!