Christmas recycling tips

Food and drink

Buy your fruit and veg loose (without packaging!) and then you can pick the best ones too!

When shopping for your Christmas feast, use a re-usable shopping bag or re-use old plastic bags.

Bigger is better! Buy drinks in bigger bottles rather than small ones. One large bottle generates less waste than several smaller ones.

If you don’t have a doorstep recycling service, remember to drop when you shop! Take your drinks bottles to the bottle bank for recycling when you next go to the supermarket. Visit the ‘Where to Recycle' section to find out where you can recycle.

Don’t forget to put the vegetable peelings from your Christmas dinner in your home compost bin.

Gifts

Look out for presents made from recycled materials or those that have recycled content.

Go for gift bags or boxes instead of wrapping paper. A funky gift bag or box can then be re-used for another occasion.

Try different materials instead of wrapping paper – jute cloth, a Christmas themed table cloth or simply just tie a silk or velvet bow around the gift – simple but eye catching and they can be re-used many times.

Stick to tradition and put presents inside a Christmas stocking that can be reused next year.

Why not use old comics, magazines, newspapers or pantomime programmes to wrap presents that can all be recycled after the festivities.

Buy wrapping paper made from 100 per cent recycled materials.

Buy rechargeable batteries for all the children’s news toys and electrical gadgets - for every 500 charges you’ll save 499 batteries being thrown away!

Cards

Try sending e-cards this year. E-cards mean no paper at all but the sentiments are still there.

Keep the Christmas cards you receive this year and re-use them next year as gift tags or to make in to cards again.

Eat your words! Why not make biscuits or buns with icing messages instead.

Save money and the environment – why not donate the money you normally spend on cards to a charity?

Or make sure you buy cards made from 100 per cent recycled materials.

Remember to recycle your Christmas cards and support the Woodland Trust Christmas Card Recycling Scheme in conjunction with Recycle Now. Cards can be recycled via WHSmith, Tesco, TK Maxx and Marks & Spencer stores nationwide. Find out more.

General

Use your local doorstep recycling service to recycle your Christmas waste. Visit our where can I recycle? page to find out what you can recycle from home and at recycling centres near you.

Start your own compost heap - it’s a great place to put all your vegetable peelings from Christmas dinner, plus all those extra newspapers and cardboard.

To make way for the season’s latest trends and party dresses, you may need to clear out old outfits that haven’t been worn for a while - Use our where can I recycle? page to find your nearest textile recycling bank, or pay a visit to a charity or second-hand shop.

Supermarket recycling facilities are a great place to get rid of old boots and shoes.

Recycle real Christmas trees. Many DIY retailers and garden centres offer this service, so have a look on www.recyclenow.com and use the postcode locator to find one near you.

Take old toys that have been replaced with new ones to a local children’s centre or charity shop where they can find a good home.

If you receive an ipod this Christmas, you may find yourself downloading and throwing out your old CDs. Make sure you recycle any unwanted ones and log onto www.recyclenow.com to find your nearest CD recycling company.

Make a new year’s resolution to recycle more stuff, more often!