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Green Tuesday: Tips for a Green Holiday Season #4

kschultz
Explorer C

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, Americans throw away 25 percent more trash during the holidays, which amounts to 25 million tons of garbage! With the hustle and bustle of the holiday season slowing down, it’s a great time to start thinking about reusing and recycling your holiday decorations. 

Before throwing away your holiday items, try this: 

  • Approximately 33 million live Christmas trees are sold in North America every year. Did you know that Christmas trees are biodegradable and can be easily reused or recycled for mulch and other purposes?  Before sending your Christmas tree to the landfill, check with your local community to find out if you can donate your tree.
  • Too many bags, ribbons, and bows?
    • Save your gift bags and use them next year.
    • If every family reused just two feet of holiday ribbon, the 38,000 miles of ribbon saved could tie a bow around the entire Planet.
  •  Clip holiday cards to make gift tags for next year, or jot down your favorite recipe on the back, to include with a hostess gift.
  • Before throwing away food from holiday festivities, put leftovers in reusable containers to share with family, friends, or the local food bank.

Let us know your ideas for reusing and recycling this holiday by commenting below.  DING! You are now free to be Green.