The festive season is a busy and exciting time of year, but it’s also when more waste is generated than usual. So the Surrey Environment Partnership (SEP) has put together seven simple ways you can own your impact in the lead up to, during and after the festive period.
- Christmas cards and wrapping – when preparing for the big day, please buy recyclable cards and wrapping as we can’t recycle any with glitter, foil, a plastic lining – or batteries!
- Homemade – you can’t beat the charm of homemade greetings cards, wrapping paper and decorations. So try reusing old ones and if you avoid adding glitter/foil/plastic they’ll be fully recyclable too!
- Cut food waste – shop with an app to avoid overbuying and remember to freeze what you don’t eat now for later. You can transform turkey, sprouts and mince pies into new meals with our delicious recipes.
- Surrey Recycles search tool or app – if you’re ever unsure which bin to put something in, do a quick and easy search on the Surrey Recycles search tool or download the free app.
- Refresh your recycling knowledge – play our drag and drop waste sorting game. Or if you’d like your children to learn more about sustainability, download the Recycling Detectives classroom activity And why not try doing a waste audit to see if you could be recycling more? Download the Binterrogator here.
- Do the Scrunch Test – if you’re not able to reuse your wrapping, screw it into a ball and if it stays scrunched, it can go in your recycling container.
- Recycle your Christmas tree – if you don’t want to replant your tree, and you’re a garden waste collection subscriber, simply cut it to fit inside your garden waste recycling bin and your crew will take it away. If that’s not an option, check here to see if your local council is running a tree recycling scheme in your area.
Find out more, including hints and tips for wasting less and where to find zero waste shops in Surrey, here.