Green Tip of the Month

How can I make my Christmas greener?

• Recycle your wrapping paper or give gifts in bags, boxes, and tins that can be reused for many years.

• Try saving your wrapping paper, ribbons and bows to use again and avoid gifts that are over-packaged. Did you know that if every family reused just 2 feet of holiday ribbon enough, the 61,000 km of ribbon saved could tie a bow around the entire planet?

• Thousands of paper and plastic shopping bags end up in landfills every year. Reduce the number of bags thrown out by bringing reusable cloth bags for holiday gift shopping. Tell store clerks you don't need a bag for small or oversized purchases and try filling the bags as much as possible.

• Consider the durability of a product before you buy it as a gift. Cheaper, less durable items often wear out quickly, creating waste and costing you money.

• Send recycled-content greeting cards to reduce the amount of virgin paper used during the holidays. Remember to recycle any paper cards you receive. You also can try sending electronic greeting cards to reduce paper waste.

• Purchase rechargeable batteries for all your electronic gifts instead of regular alkaline.

• Consider giving gifts that require little to no wrapping, such as gift certificates, concert tickets, memberships, etc.

• Browse gifts on line instead of receiving catalogues in the mail.

• People tend to throw away 25% more garbage during the holiday season – that’s an extra 2.3 million tonnes of garbage generated in December.

• Without recycling, up to 1 billion Christmas cards and 83 square kilometers of wrapping paper could end up in landfills.