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Holidays can be Happy, but Wasteful

12/18/2013

(KTNC) -- The song says this is the most wonderful time of the year, but it's also the most wasteful. Waste management expert Reo Menning says these final few weeks of the year always bring overflowing trash bags and garbage cans.
While trash generation rises, recycling typically stays level during the holidays. Menning says you can help get a handle on the situation by making an effort to recycle more, starting with the metal cookie and popcorn tins we receive as gifts. Most of the cardboard boxes our gifts will be shipped in are recyclable, as are the boxes in which the individual items are packaged. You can also recycle many greeting cards and wrapping paper as long as it doesn't have the shiny metal foil on it.
While the goal is to increase recycling rates, Menning says some holiday items one might assume could be recycled actually have to be thrown out.
Things that should not be recycled include: aluminum foil and aluminum pans, as the aluminum is too soft to go through the system to be recycled efficiently. You also cannot recycle Christmas lights, most ornaments, garland, paper plates and plastic utensils. While the ribbons and bows from our gifts can't be put in the recycle bin, they can be recycled -- when saved and used on next year's gifts.
Menning says Americans generate about 250-million tons of trash every year and only about one-third of it is recycled.

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