Going Green with the Holiday Cleanup

The holiday season has arrived. Celebrations and gifts will be at the forefront of the festivities. Presents ripped open, gift wrap and tissue paper, bags and boxes tore into in search for the gift. There is bound to be piles of wrap and tissue paper, boxes and bags, in nearly each and every home, that translates to a whole lot of waste to go to the landfill and whole lot of plastic bags to haul it out in. 

Not so good for the environment. The gift wrap industry earns roughly 2.6 billion in yearly retail sales, the bulk of it, Christmas. The United States will add an additional 5 million tons of waste is generated during the holidays, 4 million tones of that 5 million - gift wrap and plastic bags, according to the Clean Air Council. 

There are smarter solutions, this is a perfect time of the year to practice reuse, reduce and recycle wisely. It can be an educational lesson for kids too and teach them responsibility. Read on for green cleaning tips and ways to reuse some of that 'trash'. 

Ways to reuse and recycle

Look at some of the ways that you can reuse gift wrap and tissue paper, bows and ribbon, boxes and bags before you toss it out into the garbage. Don't forget about those empty gift wrap cardboard rolls either, those are good for arts and crafts and small furry pets love them! 

Read on for more ideas: 

·        Arts and crafts are an excellent way to use up some of the materials left over from the holidays, school projects and just for fun ones. 

·        Holiday paper makes for great scrap book matting, bright and colorful or metallic or printed, even cellophane could work. 

·        If you actually have large enough chunks of surviving gift wrap, use it to re-wrap other gifts, or collect small bits of paper and make a collage of gift wrap to use, use the paper to make gift tags. This is a great idea if you find yourself constantly giving gifts year round. 

·        Shred the paper, but use it in gift bags throughout the year, or reuse the tissue paper. Don't forget your bows or ribbons; they can be reused here too. 

·        Save the boxes, they tend to break down nicely and can be hauled out whenever you have a present to give that requires a box; you will always have some on hand. I do not mean only the Christmas ones, save the ones from all the stores, that way you are covered on birthdays and non Christmas holidays. 

·        Use the gift wrap for something like practicing origami and save the nice pieces of paper for when you get the hang of it. 

·        Line your bird’s cage with the paper ... better yet line your own shelves that tend to get a little messy, it’s one of those hidden bonuses, makes cleaning easier and the gift wrap is free. 

Ways to Reduce Clutter 

The biggest way to reduce your contribution of waste at the holidays is to use environmentally responsible wrapping materials, items such as glossy, metallic or embellished may not be easily recycled, if recyclable at all. More tips and ideas below: 

·        Don't be shy in telling family and friends, that box wrap paper or even newspapers are more than welcomed, appreciated even. 

·        Take up a new art and wrap your gift in the Japanese style of .......... using cloths, you can turn it into an activity with friends or new way of giving gifts. By using cloths, you can easily re wrap another gift with the cloth and pass on the unique way to present a gift and to save on waste. 

·        By using last year’s bags, ribbons, bows and boxes (if kept in good shape), you reduce the need to buy more, thus reducing the amount of waste you add to the landfill this year. 

·        Use old Christmas card fronts to make gift tags and reduce the need to buy more. 

Ways to Recycle

·        Turn cleaning up on Christmas morning over to the children, make a game out of it and maybe they learn a thing or too. 

·        Once the trash of Christmas morning is gathered, it's time to sort it into piles of recyclable, reuse next year and garbage. 

·        Boxes, bags and ribbons can be easily reused next year, as can some tissue papers. 

·        Shred all the paper heading out to the landfill so you can get more paper per bag and use less plastic bags for transport or garbage. 

·        Got those clingy foam peanuts, sometimes shipping stores in your area will take those off your hands and re-use them. Same with the air-bubble-wraps-everyone-loves-to-pop wrappings, if they are not popped out, the shipping company may take them. 

·        Houses with children on Christmas morning most likely have many new batteries. Gather up the expired and dead ones that are lying around and recycle them at a facility that does so. 

·        Christmas trees, live trees can be mulched, and many communities collect these trees for just that purpose. Got plastic? You a step ahead of the green game ... but you knew that.