Warwickshire News Mine

Every year a huge excess of food is thrown away and up to 1 billion Christmas cards, that’s 17 for every man, woman and child in the UK, could end up in bins across Britain.

As much as 83 square km of wrapping paper will be used and thrown away this year and thousands of ‘fun for five minutes’ gadgets will be discarded.

Warwickshire County Council is asking people to think before they buy this Christmas.

Katey Stoneman of Warwickshire County Council said: “Of course Christmas is a time for indulgence but by planning food shopping and cutting down on over packaged products we can all help to reduce the amount of waste that is generated at this time of year. Christmas cards can be recycled along with all those empty wine bottles that will be lying around and even Christmas trees!”

To help residents in the quest to reduce their rubbish, the county council have continued their ShopSmart campaign, which offers people advice on how to become about efficient in their shopping.

Hints and tips of how to reduce waste are available on the WasteWise website at http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/wastewise

County Councillor Martin Heatley, Portfolio Holder for the Environment said:  “Although it may sound old fashioned, a shopping list really can make the difference when shopping. You focus on finding the items on the list rather than being drawn in by the offers. If the item you want is on a special offer that’s great, but if it isn’t you probably don’t really need it.”

“Try to buy packaging that can be recycled such as glass and cans and plastic containers, which can now be disposed of at any of the county’s nine Household Recycling Centres. Some supermarkets now offer products packaged in completely compostable material in some of their ranges.”

To find your nearest recycling centre visit http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/waste

Link to WCC