Across the UK, Brits are expected to produce 30%* more waste during the festive period than at any other time of the year. That’s an extra three million tonnes!
To help prevent a season of waste, Sheffield Council and Veolia, have provided ten easy tips to help Sheffield residents reduce, recycle and celebrate sustainably:
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Wise up to packaging - look for gifts without unnecessary, excess packaging; buy loose fruit and veg, buy in bulk rather than individual servings.
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Feed your compost bin - festive treats for your compost bin include: nut shells, satsuma peel, sprout leaves, paper napkins and shrivelled old mistletoe.
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Have a living Christmas tree – a rooted tree can be used again and again and again!
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Love Christmas food, hate waste? – Don’t buy too much, check use-by dates, learn to love recipes for left-overs and don’t forget how useful your freezer is, even for things like cheese, yoghurt and herbs.
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Recycle all those batteries! – batteries placed in your bin can cause fires. Take your old batteries to your nearest HWRC.
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Broken fairy lights? – if last year’s fairy lights have stopped working while they’ve been sitting in the loft, don’t just throw them in the bin – take them and any other electricals to your local HWRC to be recycled.
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Make paper decorations, such as snowflakes, bunting or paper chains, that can easily be recycled when you’re finished with them.
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Give homemade gifts – get creative and try reusing, upcycling and cutting out excess packaging.
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Unwanted gift? – if you can’t return it, then re-gift it to a friend, sell it on ebay, or donate it to a charity shop.
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And most important of all - make sure that you put your bin out on the correct day and recycle as much as possible! Remember to treat your blue and brown bins to all those Christmas goodies such as biscuit and chocolate tins, cranberry sauce jars, wrapping paper, Christmas cards, cracker tubes, gift catalogues and drinks cans and bottles.
As we count down to the festive season Veolia is sharing more tips on how you can have a “green” Christmas through its festive advent calendar which can be seen on the @Recycle4Shef Twitter account.
This year all waste and recycling collection days will take place as normal. Make sure your bin is out for collection by 7am on your usual collection day and returned to your property by 9am the following day.
For up-to-date information and service alerts about your recycling and waste collections, you can visit www.sheffield.gov.uk/waste or follow @Recycle4Shef on Twitter.
*Christmas waste stats across the UK
https://www.gwp.co.uk/guides/christmas-packaging-facts/
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Over one billion cards will be sent,
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227,000 miles of wrapping paper used (enough paper to wrap the island of Guernsey)
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17.2 million sprouts thrown in the bin.