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Christmas wrapping paper and bows spilling out of a full trash can.
With the holidays comes gifts, decorations, general clutter and, unfortunately, a fair amount of waste.
Between gift packaging, wrapping paper, broken ornaments, greeting cards and unwanted gifts, it’s a high point of the year for waste, says Bryan Johnson, the recycling coordinator for the city of Madison streets and urban forestry division.
Johnson suggests that people try to give unwanted gifts a second life before throwing them in the trash.
“Donate it, don’t throw it away,” he says. “There are so many donation opportunities,” he notes, listing St. Vincent de Paul, Boomerangs Resale Shop and the Dane County Humane Society thrift stores as some of the local charities that accept donations.
Johnson adds that there are options for selling or swapping your unwanted gifts, such as Facebook Marketplace and neighborhood swap groups. He wants to remind people to be cautious if they choose to go with person-to-person swapping, and to find a safe, public place to hold swapping or reselling exchanges.
Philip O’Leary, professor emeritus of engineering at UW-Madison and an expert on landfills and solid waste disposal, suggests looking for gifts that will remain relevant over time.
“I often wonder, when I see all these things going out the door at the store, how long they’re actually going to be used,” he says. “I’m more of the conserving type, where if I’m buying something, I want it to last.”
He says this approach, while perhaps more costly up front, may actually save families money over time. “You have to look at the product life cycle,” he says. “If it’s a toy that ends up getting played with by several kids, even if you end up giving it away, in the long run, it costs less.”
O’Leary takes it a step further, suggesting that certain gifts can instill a sustainable ethic in children.
“When you’re picking out gifts for kids, even little kids, look for things that are going to give them an appreciation for nature and help them understand the world we live in,” he says. “So when they get older they can participate in helping preserve plants and animals.”
He suggests picture books featuring different types of wild animals, flowers and trees.
As for that disposable decor and packaging, not all can be recycled. Johnson says broken decorations, like plastic or glass ornaments, should just be tossed in the trash. Greeting cards with lights or sound contain lithium batteries that must be removed and properly disposed of before the card can be recycled.
And only plain wrapping paper can be recycled, he says. “So if there’s glitter on it, or if it’s metallic or shiny, we won’t be able to recycle it. But if it’s just plain, colored wrapping paper, it's perfectly fine to put it in your recycling.”
He says newspapers, which are recyclable, can be reused as a sustainable alternative to traditional wrapping paper.
O’Leary also recommends reusing packaging and wrapping paper. “I see no reason to buy bows every year and throw them all away,” he says. “Just put them in a plastic bag and they’ll be ready to use again next year.”
Johnson and O’Leary say that ultimately, the best sustainability strategy is to minimize the amount of waste altogether. “Less waste is the best waste,” Johnson says. “Just try and focus on generating less waste in general.”
Johnson says if people have questions about how to dispose of certain items, they can visit the How do I dispose of…? tool on the city of Madison website.
