Top tips to reduce, reuse and #recycle4Christmas

In the UK, we create a much higher proportion of waste during the festive period, in fact research shows that in the UK we generate 30% more waste than usual, which includes two million turkeys and six million Christmas trees!

With this in mind, we thought we would share our favourite recycling tips and reuse hacks of how we can all #recycle4Christmas and make our white Christmas green in 2018.

Don’t miss our Christmas Competition at the bottom of the blog for your chance to win a reusable bamboo coffee cup!

Here are a few of our favourites…

1. Real Christmas trees are recyclable – be sure to find your local recycling centre where your tree can be shredded into chippings which can then be used locally in parks or woodland areas.

2. Recycled gifts, we love this innovative way that used products are up-cycled into something with a new purpose.

3. Christmas card recycling – Christmas cards with glitter and ribbons on are difficult to recycle, you could reuse them to make bunting, decorations or even gift tags for next year’s presents. 

4. Alternatives to wrapping paper – buck the trend and use an alternative material to wrap your gifts this year. 

5. Could you be creative with your leftovers? LoveFoodHateWaste share top tips and fresh ideas for storing and using up leftovers during the festive season – including this last minute Christmas cake… 

6. What a corker! A great idea is to reuse bottle corks as a unique decoration! Don’t forget to recycle the glass bottles too. 

7. Switch to LED fairy lights – LED lights typically use between 25-80% less energy than traditional bulbs.

8. This Christmas, don’t put your small electrical items in the bin, you can take them to your local household waste recycling centre.

9. Want to recycle your wrapping paper this festive season but don’t know if you can? Simply apply the scrunch test method to see if it is recyclable. 

10. Last but by no means least, our Christmas tree at our head office in Maidenhead, is decorated with up-cycled single-use plastic and glass bottles!