(Photo courtesy of Deschutes County Solid Waste)
While the holiday season is often a time for celebrating with friends and family, it is also a time when the Deschutes County Department of Solid Waste sees a significant increase in the amount of trash going into the landfill.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the average American family generates about 25 percent more garbage between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day compared to the rest of the year. The added waste from shipping materials, gift wrapping, disposable decorations and leftover holiday food amounts to an estimated 1 million tons of extra garbage during the holiday season.
“This holiday season, Solid Waste suggests giving sustainable gifts, limiting packaging, and minimizing food waste,” said County Solid Waste Director Tim Brownell. “If we all make a few simple changes, we can reduce the amount of garbage going into the County landfill.”
Solid Waste offers these reduce, reuse and recycle strategies to help make holiday celebrations more sustainable:
- Choose sustainable holiday lights and decor. Invest in durable holiday decorations that can be used year after year. Handmade or upcycled ornaments are eco-friendly, and LED lights save energy and have a longer lifespan.
- Wrap your gifts sustainably. Help reduce the mountain of gift wrap that ends up in the landfill by avoiding single-use paper. Use reusable gift bags, fabric wraps, or create your own wrapping paper from old maps, sheet music, or children’s artwork for a personal touch.
- Gift your loved ones with experiences. Experience gifts, like outdoor adventures, concert tickets, dance classes and cooking classes can create lasting memories and help to minimize the amount of material clutter.
- Donate unwanted items. If you’re cleaning and decluttering to make room for new holiday gifts, remember to donate any unwanted items. Gently used clothes, toys, and household items may be the perfect gift for someone else.
- Avoid food waste by carefully planning holiday meals. Holiday leftovers can be frozen, sent home with guests, or composted. All food scraps, including vegetables, meats and holiday treats can be placed in yard debris carts.
- Not all holiday waste is recyclable. While cardboard boxes, plain wrapping paper, and clean paper gift bags can be recycled, foil wrapping paper, ribbons, and plastic clamshell packaging should go in the trash. Don’t place string lights in the recycle bin, take them to Deschutes Recycling or a county transfer station for recycling. If you have more cardboard than the recycle cart can hold, drop it off at any county transfer station free of charge.
- Dispose electronics and appliances responsibly. If you’re updating your technology, appliances or other electronics, be sure to safely discard the old items through Deschutes Recycling or at a county transfer station.
There are more reduce, reuse and recycle strategies on the Solid Waste website at: deschutes.org/solidwaste/page/recycling.
To find a county transfer station, visit: deschutes.org/solidwaste/page/administration-disposal-and-recycling-locations.
