What I would like to know is how to recycle those Christmas cards after Christmas. It seems like such a waste to throw them out. I have two years worth of Christmas cards piling up on me.
Good question, Janice! Your concern is justified. In the UK alone, about 1 billion Christmas cards are thrown away every season. Imagine how many are trashed in the US and rest of the world! That make for a lot of waste. Here are a few ways to reduce, reuse and recycle during the holidays:
* Cards - Your community may allow you to recycle them with other paper waste. Check to be sure. If not, consider using them for crafts. (I particularly like the idea of using them for holiday postcards or gift tags.) St. Jude doesn't need anymore used cards, but you can buy recycled cards from them for next year.
* Trees - Your community may offer curbside or neighborhood recycling or use in wildlife habitats. If not, you may want to chip it and use it for mulch or compost. Next year, consider decorating a plantable or artificial tree.
* Gifts - No one wants to talk about regifting, but many of us do it. If you have items you would like to "regift", make sure you follow these regifting etiquette suggestions.
* Food - Leftover food from holiday or other functions can often be given to a food rescue agency. They'll use it to feed the hungry in your community. Remember to donate extra food (or money) to your local food bank.
* Reduce, reuse, and recycle the glass, plastic, paper, and aluminum that you use during the holidays and all year long.
Happy solstice, happy new year, and keep the great suggestions coming!
"Children learn more from what you are than what you teach." - W.E.B. DuBois
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Visit earth911.org to find tree and other recycling centers near you. Just enter your ZIP code to get started!
My late grandmother always took the Christmas cards she received and cut little gift tags out of them with her pinking shears. It was always neat to see the interesting little scenes on her gift tags. I never thought of it as recyling... I guess she was just ahead of her time.
Thanks for stopping by, Horace. I hope you enjoyed your visit and will come again soon. If so, please spread the word!
Aren't grandmother's the best? My own grandmother recycled everything, though that wasn't the word she used for it. As she often said, "I just can't stand waste." She often recycled wrapping paper, and was always on the lookout for ways to conserve.
Thanks for bringing back good memories. And thanks for your comment, Chel. Stop by again soon, and keep up the good work over at Chasing Contentment!
Hi. I've just discovered your blog, and love what you are doing here.
I'll be back!
Welcome, Keith! I am glad you are enjoying So what can I do and I look forward to your next visit. Please spread the word to others you know who might like the site or a particular post.
Cool advice. We have curbside recycling here so those cards I don't turn into gift tags (something I started a couple of years ago with good results) are duly recycled after the holidays (I used to keep them all but for some years now I've made a concerted effort to forego the packrat ways of my wayward youth :-)
Happy Christmas to you and your informative and inspirational site.
I'm glad to hear that you've had good success with gift tags, Michael. I'm looking forward to trying the postcards, myself. And it's wonderful that your community has curbside recycling. We do too, but, as far as I can tell, no one on my street uses it. (We go to a nearby recycling center which takes more stuff.)
Thanks for stopping by, and thanks for your comment, Michael.
Happy holy Christmas to you and yours!
If any of you are interested in getting rid of your old Christmas Cards, you may send them to me. I send them to a Children's Hospice in England. The children like to make Crafts with them. Email me at catfus6473@aol.com if you can help.
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