How and Where to Recycle Christmas Items and Decorations

Christmas is typically the holiday where people use the most decorations, which means an increase in garbage. From Christmas trees, both real and fake, to wrapping paper, it all builds up to a lot of waste. With many people taking steps to be more eco-friendly, there are more ways than ever before to recycle Christmas decorations and items you may not have even realized are recyclable.

Real Christmas Trees

Call your town to see if they recycle real Christmas trees and what the requirements are. Some may require you to bundle it while others will take it as is. Depending on the town, they may have curbside pick up while others require you to drop it off at the recycling center.

Artificial Christmas Trees

Unfortunately, artificial Christmas trees cannot be recycled which is why it's actually more eco-friendly to use real Christmas trees. If you decide to switch to a real tree and want to dispose of your artificial tree, don't throw it out just yet. Call local charities in your area to see if they could use a donated Christmas tree. If the tree is in good condition, they may have no problem accepting it.

Christmas String Lights

If you no longer want your incandescent Christmas lights, there are several places to turn in those lights. In return, you keep them out of the trash and get a discount off the cost of LED string lights. To see how incandescent lights measure up to LED lights, read the comparison on Chatham Journal Weekly. One place to turn in your lights is Home Depot, so call your local store to see if they are still accepting them. Another is through the website Christmas Light Source, which has a year long program and donates the proceeds from recycling to Toys for Tots. You will also get a 10% discount off Christmas lights to use on the site. HolidayLEDs.com also offers the opportunity to send in your lights which they will recycle. In return, you'll get a coupon for 25% off a purchase of LED Christmas lights from the site.

Batteries

If you are one of the many people that seems to go through an exorbitant amount of batteries around the holidays, there are many ways to recycle them instead of throwing them out or have them laying around. The website Call2Recycle.org has a recycling location locator that gives you the place nearest your zip code that serves as a drop off site for your unwanted batteries.

Wrapping paper, Gift Tags and Greeting Cards

Many towns accept wrapping paper, gift tags and greeting cards for recycling, however, they may have regulations. It may have to be in a certain type of bag, not have tape attached and not be a certain type of paper, such as the kind that is glittery or holographic. Check your towns website or call the recycling center for their regulations. For greeting cards and wrapping paper they won't accept, consider saving it for crafts or scrapbooking or donating it to someone that does craft projects with kids.

Clothing Boxes and Gift Bags

Instead of tossing out clothing boxes and gift bags, save them to reuse for future gifts you're going to give; check first that they don't have tears, holes or names written on them. For clothing boxes that come with store names or writing printed on them, you can fix them with a little effort. Find wrapping paper that doesn't show the writing through it when it's pressed against the box; if possible, use wrapping paper that is in excellent condition that you otherwise would have put into recycling. Separate the lid of the box from the base, then use a foam brush to apply a very thin coat of Mod Podge to the outside of each half of the box. Place the wrapping paper on the box until it covers the outer surface of each half, then trim the excess paper. Put more Mod Podge on the edges to seal it down if necessary. Give it time to dry before putting the two halves back together. You now have a pre-wrapped box to use when giving your next gift.

It may seem like quite a bit of effort to recycle the Christmas items and decorations, but it is worth it to keep all of it out of the landfill. If everyone does their part, it can increase the quality of the environment and encourage others to be more eco-friendly as well.

Please note: Links and information are subject to change after publication of this article.

Sources:

Chatham Journal Weekly

Home Depot

Christmas Light Source

HolidayLEDs.com

Call2Recycle.org