Reduce your Christmas waste
Did you know that Christmas and New Year produces an extra three million tonnes of waste each year? In the UK, over the festive period, we use around:
- one billion Christmas cards
- 83 square kilometres of wrapping paper
- 750 million extra glass bottles and containers
- 500 million extra drinks cans
- eight million real Christmas trees.
Reduce your waste
- avoid using disposable items such as plastic cups, paper plates or serviettes if you're having a party
- send electronic cards to your friends and family, as most Christmas cards can't be recycled in your blue bin because they contain glitter or other decorations
- take a reusable shopping bag with you when you do your Christmas shopping
- buy vouchers for friends and family so they can exchange them for something they'll definitely want, or try one of our green gift suggestions
- use energy efficient LED lights on your Christmas tree to reduce your carbon usage
- don’t buy more food than you need to and turn your leftovers into new meals. Visit www.lovefoodhatewaste.com for helpful hints and recipes.
Reuse old or unwanted items
- buy a reusable Christmas tree as it will you save money in the long term and reduce your waste as well
- buy rechargeable batteries for any electrical gifts you buy or receive
- save leftover cards and wrapping paper for next year
- turn old Christmas cards into gift tags
- donate any unwanted gifts to charity shops who can sell your items on to people who need them.
Recycle what you can
- buy a home composter and turn your leftovers into compost for your garden
- if you're buying a real Christmas tree, recycle it at one of our recycling centres
- recycle your glass bottles and jars at one of our many bottle banks
- use your blue bin or kerbside recycling box to recycle as much of your waste as possible.




