It's the Most Wonderful Time to Re...
Make this Christmas the Greenest One Yet!
This festive season, join our campaign to make magic without the mountains of waste! We're focusing on four key actions—Reuse, Repair, Reheat, and Recycle—to help you celebrate sustainably, save money, and make wonderful memories that don't cost the Earth.
Reuse:
Wrap, Decorate, and Gift Smarter!
The average person produces 30% more waste over the Christmas period. Let's change that by embracing creative reuse!
Eco-Friendly Wrapping:
- Swap single-use paper (especially foil or glitter-coated) for reusable fabric bags, scarves, or old tea towels.
- Use brown paper and decorate it with natural twine, dried orange slices, pine sprigs, or stamps instead of plastic ribbons.
- Save and carefully iron any wrapping paper you receive to use again next year.
Decorations:
- Skip the Plastic: Collect natural materials like pinecones, holly, and fallen twigs to create beautiful, compostable wreaths and table centrepieces.
- DIY Ornaments: Make your own with salt dough, dried fruit slices, or upcycled materials like old CDs or wine corks.
- Lights: Invest in LED Christmas lights—they use up to 80% less energy than traditional ones!
- Gifts: Give the gift of an experience (e.g., concert tickets, a cooking class, a spa day).
- Visit a reuse shop, like The Shed and look for gifts that are pre-loved, vintage, or locally made.
- Donate any unwanted gifts or items to charities or reuse shops early so that they can be loved by someone else this Christmas.
Repair:
Give Your Christmas Favourites a Second Life
Don't toss it—fix it! Extending the life of your items is the most sustainable choice of all.
- Tackling Tangles: If a string of lights stops working, check the fuse, tighten the bulbs, or look for a small break in the wire before throwing the whole set away.
- Mend and Adorn: Repair broken baubles with a strong adhesive or turn them into new decorations by adding extra glitter or paint.
- Fix the Festive Wardrobe: Mend that slightly torn Santa hat or sew a loose button back onto your favourite Christmas jumper to get more wear out of it.
- Toys and Electronics: If a gift breaks soon after Christmas, check if it can be fixed before heading to the bin. Many small electrical items can be easily repaired at home or by a professional. If it can't be repaired make sure you recycle it at a Community Recycling Centre!
Reheat:
Fight Food Waste and Love Your Leftovers
Food waste increases significantly during the holidays. BUT by planning and reheating smartly, you can enjoy every bite and save money!
- Plan, Don't Panic-Buy: Use a meal planner and only buy what you know you will realistically eat.
- Storage is Key: Invest in good, airtight containers to store leftovers safely and prolong their life.
- Creative Reheating: Don't just eat the same meal again! Transform your turkey into a curry, your roast potatoes into bubble and squeak, or your Christmas pudding into a delicious trifle.
Tip: Keep a section on your fridge or freezer clear just for Christmas leftovers so you don't forget them!
- Recycle what You Can't Eat: Place all your inedible food or leftovers in to your food waste caddy to be recycled. Food waste is collected weekly and turned into energy.
- The recycled food waste in Rhondda Cynon Taf, can generate enough energy to power around 1180 homes!
Sign up to Food Waste Recycling
Recycle:
Know Your Bags, Sacks and Caddies!
Ensure that everything that can be recycled is recycled. A few simple sorting habits can make a huge difference.
- Cardboard and Boxes: Flatten all those huge delivery boxes where possible and place in to your CLEAR recycling bag.
- Wrapping Paper: Put ALL wrapping paper into a separate CLEAR bag, including foil or glitter wrapping paper.
- Christmas Tree Disposal: Dont forget to BOOK your real Christmas Treet kerbisde collection online!
- Batteries: Never put dead batteries in your main bins! Collect them and take them to a supermarket or local recycling point.
- Glass and Bottles: Place all your wine and beer bottles, and glass jars, into the CLEAR recycling bags. Please rinse in your leftover dishwater where possible.
- Plastic packaging and cans: Place all your items, into the CLEAR recycling bags. Please rinse in your leftover dishwater where possible.
Need CLEAR and Food Waste Recycling bags?
Your Greener Christmas Checklist
- Use rechargeable batteries for new toys and gadgets.
- Turn down your thermostat and wear a festive jumper instead.
- Commit to one new reusable gift wrap idea.
- Use your reusable shopping bags for all food and gift trips.
- Plan three creative leftover meals for Boxing Day/New Year - www.lovefoodhatewaste.com offer lots of great ideas and recepies!
- Unplug your fairy lights and decorations when you go to bed.
For more information and tips on recycling your Christmas waste follow us on Facebook or Instagram.