Dreaming of a greener Christmas

While the festive period is wonderful, it can create tonnes of unnecessary waste a year. Wondering what you can do to help reduce your waste and impact, gift more sustainably or looking to find a new use for those items that would usually end up in the bin? The good news is, it’s easy and often cheaper to go environmentally friendly!

In a bid to be more environmentally conscious, one in seven Brits will attempt to go carbon neutral by cutting out waste and by not using plastics or wrapping paper.

However, if you have already given or received wrapped presents or Christmas cards, you may be wondering what can – and can’t – be recycled.

There might be a lot of glitter round at Christmas time, but do you know the effect it has on the environment? Glitter is becoming a growing problem due to the microplastics used that then make their way into our oceans.

Thankfully, cutting down on glitter doesn’t need to mean cutting out little touches such as Christmas crackers and decorations, as sustainable options are becoming easily available. There are great alternatives out there – think recyclable wrapping paper, sustainable crackers, and responsible table ware and decorations.

Wrapping paper, Christmas cards and Christmas crackers can be dyed, laminated, have gold and silver decorations, glitter or plastic – none of which can be recycled.

Most Christmas presents also have sticky tape and more decorations with ribbon and bows, again which cannot be recycled, whilst low quality paper is very thin and contains poor fibres which are not good for recycling.

Wrapping paper

Before recycling plain paper wrapping, remove any sticky tape and decorations such as ribbons and shiny or coloured bows.

Wrapping paper can only be recycled if it passes the scrunch test – if it stays scrunched, it can be recycled, but if it ‘bounces back’, it contains plastic and cannot be recycled.

Simple paper wrap can be recycled but foil or glitter-decorated paper cannot and needs to go in the general waste.

Christmas cards

Like wrapping paper, you can only recycle greetings cards if they’re entirely made out of paper.

Some are made out of foil, have a plastic coating, or contain non-paper decorations like glitter, gold and silver coloured shapes, and other plastics. None of these can be recycled and microplastics such as glitter can’t be separated from the paper fibres during the recycling process.

Tear off any glittery parts or non-paper decorations and put them in your general waste bin.

Alternatively, you can cut out pretty pictures out from cards and re-use them as next year’s gift tags.

Christmas trees

While the plastic vs real Christmas tree debate rages on with no clear ‘green’ winner, there are thankfully options for disposing of your real tree that can help to make you a responsible Christmas tree owner.

After Christmas you can recycle your real tree by putting it inside your brown bin. Remove the base and decorations and chop it down so it fits in your bin.  The trunk must be thinner than your wrist and the bin lid needs to close. Alternatively, you can take it to one of nine recycling points located across the borough, or to one of the household waste and recycling centres. 

Real Christmas tree recycling points:

• Castleton Community Centre Car Park, Manchester Road, Castleton.
• Bentley Street, opposite Clarence Street, Rochdale - spare ground.
• Bank Top or Cherwell Avenue, Heywood - open space.
• ​Kirkway, just off Grimshaw Lane, Middleton.
• Norden Bus Terminus Play Area, Edenfield Road, Rochdale.
• Norden Road, Bamford, Rochdale.
• Halifax Road, Smallbridge.
• Milnrow Memorial Car Park.
• Wildhouse Lane, Milnrow - lay-by area.

You can take artificial Christmas trees to your local recycling centre, which are open every day apart from Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.

These are located on Chichester Street, Rochdale and Spring Vale, Middleton.

Finally, potted trees can be planted in your garden or re-potted in a larger tub ready for next year. Alternatively, you could consider renting a tree from a Christmas tree farm that will re-use the tree year after year.

If you’re still struggling to get rid of a cut tree, cutting it up and stacking the logs in a quiet and sheltered part of the garden can provide a wonderful home for wildlife too, according to the RSPB.

Lessen the bin load

The council will collect extra recycling waste only, extra bags of general waste will not be collected. Please ensure paper and cardboard are flattened and secured next to your bin and that mixed recycling (glass, plastic bottles and cans) are in a clear container next to the bin. Large items such as cardboard boxes should be folded down to make them as manageable as possible. 

If your bin is looking a bit full, why not upcycle?  The RSPB has some crafty ways to repurpose your sweet wrappers, cardboard tubes or bottle tops while keeping the kids entertained - take a look at the charity’s creative ideas for your waste here.

Reduce your food waste

Winter is also the perfect time to be feeding your garden birds. You don’t need a fancy feeder – check out the RSPB’s handy video guide to making a window feeder from a recycled milk bottle here.

Don’t forget that some kitchen scraps, like cheese, cooked rice and potatoes provide a great energy source for birds, or you can also find out what’s best to feed the birds in winter, using the RSPB’s handy seasonal feeding guide here.

Finally, there are also plenty of simple switches you can make to reduce the amount of plastic and other rubbish that ends up in landfill. You can buy rice and pasta in cardboard boxes, loose vegetables and potatoes or opt ingredients which come in glass jars.