When it comes to the Holiday season, everyone has a lot on their plate, and not just a turkey. From presents to decorations to Christmas cards, it is a very busy time of year.
But one thing that sometimes gets missed is how to celebrate the Holidays while taking care of the environment.
“The average Canadian increases their waste by over 25 per cent at the Christmas season and that has a dramatic impact,” said Sharon Howland, manager of waste and recycling at the Cochrane Eco Centre.
The Eco Centre is offering a variety of ways to help people enjoy the festive season, while keeping things green.
From garland to taking care of the left over turkey, Howland pointed out some great tips for celebrating with eco friendly style.
Howland said there has always been an ‘epic debate’ as to whether to go for real or artificial trees, but the final consensus, from a waste and recycling perspective, is that a real tree is the way to go.
“That tree can be mulched afterwards and that mulch can be reused in landscaping. Where as the energy that goes into artificial trees, for the plastic and the metal, is way more intensive than a real tree,” said Howland.
She said that around 99 per cent of artificial trees cannot be recycled in any form, and the likelihood of anyone keeping one artificial tree for the rest of their lives is pretty slim.
Once you are finished with your real tree this season, Howland said the Eco Centre would accept them until the end of January, they just ask that people remove tinsel or other holiday decorations.
She also added that they would accept any trimmings from the tree, wreaths and also poinsettias.
Another alterative to buying a real or artificial tree according to Howland is renting a real tree. She said that a lot of businesses in Calgary choose this option where local nurseries will rent out potted live trees and sell that same tree later in the year.
Howland said that the key message from the town this year regarding Christmas gift giving is to create memories, not garbage. She explained that people are often trying to think of the perfect gift for the person who has everything and that doesn’t necessarily have to be something that is a physical present.
“We want to send out the message that you want to give a gift that lasts,” she said. “Give the experience instead of a physical gift.”
Howland suggested ideas of gift ‘experiences’ such as snow shoeing lessons, cooking classes or tickets to one of the great community theatres, a show at Legacy Guitar and Coffee House or the Cochrane Movie House.
If you do choose to give a physical gift, Howland said to be sure to pick something that is durable and will last, rather than something that is disposable.
Another great option Howland said is giving a donation on someone’s behalf.
Now that you have bought your eco friendly gifts, it is time to wrap them with the same focus in mind.
“That is a huge one for us in this department. We get buried in waste and recycling at Christmas time,” said Howland.
Howland said there are a number of creative ways that people can wrap their gifts, including using reusable bags, newspaper and cloth.
Another creative idea is to use recyclable brown bags and dress them up or have kids draw on some recyclable paper and use that to wrap.
When planning your big Holiday feast, Howland said to think about shopping local as a way to be more environmentally friendly.
On top of that, she suggested planning the meal for how many people would actually be eating it, so that the food will not be wasted and it will get used up before it goes bad.
Howland said that the Eco Centre does accept food waste free of charge, including turkey carcasses, they just ask that people separate it and put it in food waste bins.
Post Christmas, Howland said a lot of people are unsure of what to do with all of the leftover materials and that although they have done their best to reduce waste leading up to the Holiday season when that time has passed, they are confused about what to do they do with the leftovers.
“We just want to make sure that people put the right things in the recycling, whether it is their cart recycling or down at the Eco Centre,” said Howland.
Howland said most wrapping paper, labels and Christmas cards are recyclable, as well as items such as eggnog cartons, cellophane and cardboard boxes that may have been used over the season.
But there are a lot of things Howland pointed out that come up at Christmas time that are not recyclable, such as ribbons, bows, tape, plastic garland and certain types of wrapping paper.
“Unfortunately there seems to be a trend in the wrapping paper world for them to make plastic, foil, paper combined gift-wrap. We can’t accept that stuff. We need wrapping paper to be a single material. It’s paper that we can recycle,” she said.
The Eco Centre is constantly updating its Facebook page with eco friendly Christmas ideas, so for more information, Howland recommended checking their page. For more information call the Eco Centre at 403-851-2277.
