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’Tis the Season to Reduce Holiday Waste
By
Terri McLean
 LEXINGTON, Ky., (Dec. 6, 2006) – It’s the holiday season, that
time of year when, along with all the gift giving and merry
making, Americans produce an extra one million tons of trash per
week.
That’s right. During the five weeks between Thanksgiving and New
Year’s Day, more garbage is generated in the United States than
at any other time of year. It may well be the season to be
jolly, but it’s also the season to be wasteful.
“As we welcome the holiday season, we also welcome the
high-waste season,” said Ashley Osborne, Extension associate for
environmental and natural resource issues at the University of
Kentucky College of Agriculture.
For example, Osborne said, the amount of Christmas cards bought
each year – about 1.9 billion – would fill a football field 10
stories high. And holiday ribbon? There is enough of that thrown
out each year – 38,000 miles worth – to wrap around the Earth
and tie a bow. Add to that gift wrapping, packaging materials
and shopping bags, plus all the cans, bottles and plastic
containers tossed out after holiday celebrations, and you’ve got
a whole lot of extra garbage.
 “It’s a very wasteful season,” she said. “I think people are
becoming more aware (of the waste problem). … Then again you
have other people that maybe aren’t as aware, and I think that’s
why we still have this large amount of trash being produced in
the holiday season.”
Osborne is one of many waste-watchers who are dedicated to
spreading the word about Americans’ holiday wastefulness. She’s
joining other Cooperative Extension Service personnel across the
state in educating people about ways to reduce the amount of
garbage produced during this time of year.
One of the first things she does to get people in the
reduce-the-waste spirit is to help them realize just how much
they, as individuals, are contributing to the holiday waste
problem. Then she encourages them to make an effort to adopt
more earth-friendly habits, including giving gifts that are not
harmful to the environment and recycling waste instead of
trashing it.
“Simple changes can make big differences,” she said.
When it comes to gift giving, for example, Osborne recommends
buying gifts that are not overly packaged, without unnecessary
plastic or cardboard. She also suggests buying gifts that are
made at least partially from recycled content. This is called
“closing the loop” on the recycling process. Items made from
recycled content have gone full circle, from recycling bin to
manufacturer to the marketplace and back.
In addition, Osborne said, “Think durable. Consider how long an
item will last before you make a purchase. Often, a cheaper item
will wear out – and end up in the landfill – before its more
durable equivalent.” And don’t overlook the value of giving
“practical” gifts such as gift certificates that do not require
excessive packaging or wrapping, she said.
Because a large amount of holiday waste comes from paper, bows
and ribbon each year, Osborne suggests that people pay
particular attention to reducing waste when wrapping gifts. She
offers several alternatives to traditional holiday wrapping,
including creating wrapping paper out of shopping bags, and
wrapping gifts in something useful.
“I think my favorite idea is wrapping a gift in something that
can be reused, for instance a kitchen gift wrapped in a tea
towel,” Osborne said. “Or wrapping a toy for a child in a
backpack or lunch box.”
For holiday gatherings, there are several things that can be
done to keep them environmentally safe. For instance, use
reusable dishes and cloth napkins, buy food in bulk to reduce
packaging, and recycle cans, bottles, paper and plastic.
“It’s all a mindset,” Osborne said. “It’s really thinking about
what you’re purchasing, how you’re going to use it, things like
that. The holiday gift-giving season should also be a
waste-reduction season.”
For more information about ways to reduce holiday waste, contact
your county Extension office.
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Contact: Ashley Osborne, 859-257-2505 |
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The UK College
of Agriculture, through its land-grant mission, reaches across
the commonwealth with teaching, research and extension
to enhance the lives of Kentuckians. |
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