All that Glitter Ain’t Gold: Tips for Reducing Holiday Waste
Reported By: Sophia Lumsdaine
Illustrated By: Addie Patterson
Along with its many good qualities, the holiday season is also a time when consumerism, materialism, and wasteful consumption run rampant in the United States. A study by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2018 found that 292 million tons, or 1,800 pounds, of waste per American was produced that year. Also according to the EPA, the volume of household waste produced by Americans increases by 25% in the period between Thanksgiving and New Years each holiday season. While it is very difficult to eliminate wasteful consumption completely, there is a great deal that can be done to reduce it.
The most direct solution is to lessen the amount of material products we buy and exchange in the first place. Limiting compulsive buying will reduce the resources necessary to create the good itself, reduce the need for disposable packaging, and lessen the gas, energy, and CO2 emissions that would otherwise be required in shipping.
However, beyond reduction of our actual consumption, there are many other steps that can be taken to reduce our waste footprint during the holidays. When giving gifts, consider using baskets, glass jars, or cloth to hold presents rather than traditional wrapping paper. These forms of packaging are elegant, non-disposable, and can themselves be utilized by the receiver of the gift. Other wrapping alternatives include comics, old newspapers, magazines, and book pages.
If you do use traditional wrapping paper, opt for the paper variety instead of the plastic or foil type wrapping. Wrapping paper that is strictly a paper product can be recycled, but the shimmery, glittery, plastic-based kind must be thrown out.
Salvageable wrapping paper can also be folded, saved, and stored for future use. Ribbon can also be reused. Similarly, packing materials like foam peanuts and bubble wrap can be reused for outgoing packages. Peanuts are not recyclable, but bubble wrap can be recycled at any plastic film recycling location. NexTrex, a plastic film recycling company has compiled a list of stores that collect plastic film in each US state. In Oregon, Albertsons, Fred Meyer, Kohl’s, New Seasons, QFC, Roth’s Fresh Market, Safeway, and Winco, all offer plastic-film recycling collection. However, it should be noted, as is reported by NPR and Greenpeace, plastic recycling remains problematic and is not a long term solution to waste reduction.
Christmas lights that have stopped working cannot be recycled with curbside recycling but must be recycled at special facilities. Strands can be mailed in to Holiday LEDs, a company that recycles Christmas lights, or dropped off at the Metro Central Transfer Station in Portland or the Metro South Transfer Station in Oregon City.
The EPA’s Green Your Holiday Scene page, and Oregon Metro’s Holiday Cleanup 101 page are helpful resources for further specifics on holiday waste solutions.
As you consider your production of waste this holiday season, seek to prioritize reducing your consumption, be mindful of the types of items you consume, look for ways to reuse or repurpose products, and thoroughly examine recycling options before throwing things away. And as corny as it may sound, remember that the reverence, the joy, and the connection that the holidays can bring are ultimately far more rewarding than an excessive abundance of material goods.