Waste Not, Want Not

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healthy living

Waste not, want not Simple tips reduce holiday trash L e a H a ns o n

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rom Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day, household waste increases by more than 25 percent, and this extra trash—mostly food, shopping bags, product packaging and wrapping paper— adds up to an additional million tons of waste per week that’s sent to U.S. landfills, according to the EPA. Luckily, there are many steps you can take that will help you reduce your holiday trash—and even save some money while doing it. What to give For most, gift giving is an essential tradition in the holiday season. As nice as it may sound to forego gifts altogether in an effort to waste less, that’s not a realistic sacrifice for most gift givers. However, it is possible for most gift givers to purchase fewer store-bought products. Get crafty and make handmade tokens or show your affection with scrumptious holiday treats. Gifts don’t need to be material goods and, in fact, many feel even more appreciated with actions, special notes, exciting outings, or thoughtful gestures than they do with store-bought, material items.

Consider packaging Many are trying more and more to purchase goods that have minimal packaging to reduce their impact on landfills during the holiday season. It can be difficult to assess the sustainability of product packaging; some items may have less packaging but the packaging is less biodegradable while others use more packaging but it’s completely recyclable. In short, don’t just look at the amount of or size of packaging—see what it’s made of and check if it can be recycled in northern Colorado. And, if you’re not sure, don’t be afraid to call the company to ask. Even if you feel silly doing so, the reality is: companies listen. Gift-wrap The annual waste from gift-wrap and 12

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shopping bags totals four million tons in the United States, according to the Use Less Stuff Report. In fact, half of all the paper America consumes in a year has been used to wrap and decorate consumer products (The Recycler’s Handbook). But, you don’t have to forego gift-wrapping altogether in order to be more sustainable; you just need to be a little more creative. Using newspaper or old maps is an easy go-to that most have heard of already. But, there are other creative options – and some that end up (mostly) looking like traditional holiday wrap. Paper grocery bags can be painted with holiday drawings and designs and varying sized cloth bags can be used year after year. In the least, do your best to save gift bags, tissue paper, and wrapping paper from gifts you’ve received and reuse it when you’re wrapping your next gift. Food waste Few disagree that we cook and bake more during the holiday season. And, making more food means creating more food waste. While we also agree we eat more during this time of year, eating more doesn’t mean wasting less. Americans waste 96 billion pounds of food each year according to the USDA, much of it during the holiday season. You can contribute to lowering this

number with a few simple rules: • Plan your menu. Having a planned menu means making a shopping list of only the things you need and buying only those things. • Store leftovers. Don’t throw leftovers away; they can be frozen, made into new dishes, or simply eaten in the following days. • Compost. Many leftovers can be composted. Even if you do end up getting rid of leftover food, at least compost the items you’re able. Christmas tree If you celebrate Christmas—and with a Christmas tree—you must have the “real or fake?” debate. Approximately 25-30 million real Christmas trees are sold in the United States each year so it is imperative that real trees are recycled when the holidays are over. Northern Colorado has multiple locations for ridding yourself of your tree. View the locations online: • Fort Collins: www.fcgov.com/recycling/ christmas-tree.php • Loveland: www.cityofloveland.org/index. aspx?page=1115 • Windsor: www.windsorgov.com/index. aspx?NID=619: • Greeley: www.greeleygov.com/Streets/ CommunityPrograms.aspx


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