CHIP Alumni Association (PACAA)

CHIP Tip No. 51: I'm Dreaming of a Green Christmas...
Recycling tips adapted from 20 Tips for a Sustainable Christmas, Earth911.org

How much extra trash accumulates during the holiday season?
(answer on bottom of page)
10 million tons
25 million tons
50 million tons
15 million tons

1. Fifty-thousand trees (or 8,000 tons of wrapping paper) will be used this holiday season for gift wrapping. Try to reuse paper and save gift bags to use next year. Be creative, use non-traditional items to wrap presents such as fabric, newspapers and decorated shoe boxes. Also, consider buying recycled wrapping paper and cards, and reuse Christmas cards as gift tags for next year. It was estimated that around 744 million Christmas cards were sent last year. If those cards would have been made from recycled paper, it would have saved 248,000 trees.
2. Reuse Christmas tins as storage containers or save them to use next year.
3. Send a Christmas card via email.
4. Recycle your beverage containers.
5. Invest in a re-usable shopping bag. Throughout the Christmas season, over 125,000 tons of plastic packaging is thrown away.
6. Make your own Christmas gifts. Try this idea: create gourmet flavored oils by simply adding garlic, herbs and spices, and dried chilies to olive oil. Old jars? This website (http://www.handmadegiftsinajarrecipes.com/) has many creative ideas. Don’t forget to make it CHIP-Approved!
7. Try to minimize use of disposable plates and cups.

Make one of your New Years resolution to live more sustainable. If you currently recycle (SUPER), if not, consider starting in the New Year. For additional recycling information call Rebecca Cottrell, from the Peoria County Recycling and Resource Conservation Center at (309) 672-6932. A downloadable list of recycling locations is located at: http://www.peoriacounty.org/recycle/locations. For more recycling tips visit: Earth911.org

-Answer: Approximately 25 percent extra trash (25 million tons) accumulates during the Christmas period.