The Responsible Disposal of Holiday Waste: An In-Depth Guide (2024)

Everything You Need to Know About Responsible Disposal of Holiday Waste

ByMia Barnes, Founder and Editor-in-Chief ofBody+Mind Magazine.

Holidays are when families and friends come together, and it’s the time of year when meals, gifts and shopping are all the rage. Using plastic containers, Styrofoam coolers and tin foil to wrap and store food is so easy. Your focus may be on keeping everything fresh, but you may forget that waste disposal has a huge environmental impact.

Holiday time also brings lots of other trash, such as Christmas trees, decorations and wrapping paper, to dispose of. Determining how to limit waste production before you splurge is the first step in reducing garbage. It’s how you become a responsible participant in this season of giving. You’ll need some creative disposal planning to ensure you leave nothing but memories behind.

What Holiday Waste Materials Do You Produce?

Lots of food is consumed during the holiday season in the U.S. Approximately one-third of food products go uneaten and make up 24% of municipal solid waste in landfills. This significantly impacts the environment by contributing to methane production and increasing the risk of disease due to bacteria contaminating waterways.

Other forms of waste increase dramatically during the festive season. Just think of all the extra garbage bags you put out, filled with gift-wrapping paper, ribbons, disposable food containers and broken Christmas decorations. Even Christmas trees contribute to the overall trash and pollution epidemic.

The usual path of your holiday trash is into the garbage and then to your local landfill. The EPA estimates that 292.4 million tons of municipal solid waste is generated each year, with projections for a continued increase in years to come.

Waste management costs money, both from the government and from you. Your monthly utility bills include curbside trash collection fees.

An Alternative Approach to Waste Disposal

The best approach is to stop producing such massive amounts of waste annually. According to the EPA, each person produces 4.9 pounds of garbage daily.

Finding alternatives to waste production means taking responsibility for how much you reuse, reduce and recycle. The holidays are the perfect time to up your responsible disposal game and contribute to reducing trash.

You can even recycle old clothes, helping to reduce fabric dye and chemicals in local rivers and streams.

Responsible Disposal Methods for Holiday Waste

It’s time to roll up your sleeves and dive into the proverbial dumpster. Responsible disposal methods include planning on how to reduce your waste production, including reusing or recycling. Responsibility starts with you.

1. Christmas Trees

Who doesn’t love a “spruced up” festive tree decorated with shiny ornaments, glittering balls and flashing string lights? Buying a fresh tree yearly usually means you’ll have a Christmas tree to dispose of in the new year. Plastic trees are reusable but need replacing in time, leaving you with more challenges.

One excellent solution is to create a reusable Christmas tree out of dried branches. You can paint it with fresh colors every year and store it in the attic or basement. However, if you want to indulge in a traditional Christmas tree, here are some options.

• Reduce your Christmas tree waste: Choose a smaller tree to reduce the overall size and amount of waste. Purchase a natural tree with roots and plant it in your yard or a park after the holidays. You can also rent a living tree, which you then return after Christmas. After several years, the lot owners replant these trees in a forested area.
• Reuse your Christmas tree waste: You can contribute to the environment by reusing Christmas tree waste. Natural trees provide excellent shelter and food for fish in a local river or stream. Remember to check with local park authorities first. You can also use the branches to create shelter in your vegetable garden during winter.
• Recycle your Christmas tree waste: Plastic Christmas trees can be challenging to recycle. However, local recycling companies may accept PVC trees for reclamation. Turn leftover artificial trees into wreaths, garlands and festive decorations for next year.

2. Christmas Tree Lights

When festive lights and outdoor light decorations no longer work, consider your options before throwing them away.

• Reduce tree lights: Avoid purchasing cheap Christmas lights that are likely to break. Instead, choose LEDs with a much longer life span.
• Reuse tree lights: Turn old lights into new decorations. Glue several together for a new, brightly colored ornament to hang on the tree next year.
• Recycle tree lights: Contact a licensed scrapyard that reclaims copper wiring from older lights.

3. Greeting Cards

While you may love a string of colorful greeting cards on a garland over the fireplace, these add up and fill the trash.

• Reduce greeting cards: Join the technology age and send an e-card instead of a traditional one. If you must send a greeting card, choose one made from recycled paper. Some options even include recycled paper pulp filled with wildflower seeds that you plant in your garden.
• Reuse greeting cards: Greeting cards usually have beautiful pictures. With a little effort, you can turn them into repurposed bookmarks and paperweights.
• Recycle greeting cards: Use old cards to create new ones by making your own paper pulp. This is also an excellent way to recycle old newspapers, gift wrapping and tissue paper.

4. Gift Wrapping

It’s fabulous to unwrap a gift, especially one dressed up in beautiful paper, ribbons and decorations. However, the festive season produces millions of tons of paper waste.

• Reduce wrapping paper waste: Buy gift bags and reuse them next year. Use wrapping paper made from recycled paper pulp. Avoid cellophane and other plastic materials, which are much harder to recycle.
• Reuse wrapping paper waste: Old wrapping paper is an excellent addition to your hobby box. Use it to cover books, in scrapbooking projects and for other craft hobbies.
• Recycle wrapping paper waste: Cut the plastic tape from all your wrapping paper and send it to a local recycling center.

5. Gift Wrapping Ribbons

The holidays are all about the bling, and cellophane ribbons are as much part of that tradition as eggnog and pumpkin spice. However, they are a nightmare for recycling and pollution concerns.

• Reduce plastic ribbons: Choose gift bags without extra ribbon detail. If you do use them, select a natural type featuring recycled paper, string or fabric. Paper ribbons are easy to recycle.
• Reuse plastic ribbons: Old ribbons can be used to make pom-poms or decorative shapes for next year’s gifts. Tying several together makes for colorful decor.
• Recycle plastic ribbons: Recycle plastic ribbons in the appropriate recycling bins.

6. Cardboard Boxes

The festive season brings cardboard boxes for gifts, tasty treats and takeout meals. They may end up in storage afterward, but eventually, they relocate to a landfill.

• Reduce cardboard waste: Choose paper instead of cardboard for containers whenever possible.
• Reuse cardboard waste: Use cardboard boxes for storage or as a fire accelerant for your fireplace or grill.
• Recycle cardboard waste: Remove plastic tape and metal staples from old boxes before adding them to the paper recycling bin.

7. Electronics and Batteries

E-waste is a massive challenge to the world’s waste dilemma, with 62 million metric tons of electronic waste contributing to landfills in 2023.

• Reduce your e-waste: Upgrade virtually where possible to cut back on packaging and unnecessary e-devices.
• Reuse your e-waste: Donate dated electronic equipment to schools, charity organizations and art initiatives to help prevent them from ending up in landfills.
• Recycle your e-waste: Most e-waste contains recyclable components like microchips and copper wire, which a licensed reclamation company can recycle.

9. Takeout Containers and Styrofoam

Styrofoam is one of the most significant contributors to harmful waste and pollution. Polystyrene makes up 10%-40% of global plastic litter, clogging up waterways and oceans.

• Reduce Styrofoam waste: Avoid packing food in Styrofoam, opting for glass containers or paper packets instead.
• Reuse Styrofoam waste: If you must use Styrofoam, reuse it by washing it out or donating it to schools for art projects.
• Recycle Styrofoam waste: Collect, wash and pack Styrofoam packaging in large bags for recycling. Many grocery stores have recycling bins marked specifically for this.

10. Glass and Plastic Bottles

Bottles and their caps make their way into the world’s waterways and oceans. These materials become shredded and form plastic smog, which suffocates aquatic wildlife.

• Reduce glass and plastics: Avoid using plastic, as you can still melt glass and reuse it.
• Reuse glass and plastics: Choose recycled plastic bottles or versions made from hemp, which decomposes naturally. Remove PVC or other plastic bottle caps and sealing rings to prevent wildlife from getting tangled.
• Recycle glass and plastics. Recycle glass and plastic bottles at your local grocery store.

11. Food and Soda Cans

Food and beverage cans often end up in landfills. However, they are useful and valuable for recycling.

• Reduce cans: Buy fresh produce or Mason jar preserved food whenever possible, and use your reusable water bottle instead of buying soda cans.
• Reuse cans: Use cans for local art projects.
• Recycle cans: Collect food and soda cans for recycling. Many reclamation projects pay for these by weight.

12. Paper Towels and Napkins

Paper towels and napkins are major contributors to environmental damage.

• Reduce paper and napkins: Use fabric napkins during the festive season, which you can wash and reuse. Also, decline free napkins with your takeout meals.
• Reuse paper and napkins: Collect unused napkins and paper towels to use again. Often, you may not have used these during a meal.
• Recycle paper and napkins: Collect paper napkins or towels and place these in recycling containers at collection points.

13. Leftover Food

Americans produce a shocking amount of food during the holidays, and much of this goes to waste. It rots in landfills and contaminates freshwater sources.

• Reduce food waste: It’s simple — avoid over-catering during the festive season by cooking less.
• Reuse food waste: Plan for enough freezer space to store leftovers for later use.
• Recycle food waste: You can arrange with local charities that feed those in need to collect leftover food, or you can drop it off at their collection points.

14. Magazines and Newsletters

You may read more magazines and newsletters during the holidays than at any other time. They usually have a glossy finish, making the paper challenging to recycle.

• Reduce print waste: Read e-promotions, but don’t buy or accept printed promotional material.
• Reuse print waste: Use old magazines or newspapers to create gift-wrapping paper.
• Recycle print waste: Collect used magazines and newsletters for recycling as paper pulp.

15. Travel and Carbon Dioxide

Holidays are for seeing family, but excessive personal travel increases your carbon footprint because of fuel emissions. When possible, combine errands to reduce frequent shopping trips.

Recycling and reusing aren’t quite quantifiable for this last point, but you can help reduce travel-related waste. Methods to be responsible for your travel waste include:

• Carpooling
• Public transportation
• Walking for short distances
• Changing to a more fuel-efficient vehicle
• Avoiding rush hour traffic when cars consume more fuel

Wrapping Things Up

Holidays are meant for giving. The best gift you can give yourself, your family and your community is to be responsible for your holiday waste. Reduce wasteful habits and products, reuse what you can and recycle as much as possible. Every packet, Styrofoam package and plastic wrapper adds up, and being mindful of your actions is a great present for the planet.

About the Author

Mia Barnes has been a freelance writer for over 4 years with expertisein healthy livingand sustainability. Mia is also the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of the online publication,Body+Mind Magazine.