Buy green this Christmas
Warwickshire County Council is urging residents to think of the environment when they go Christmas shopping.
The county council is giving help and advice to people on how to do their bit to help environment and buy green gifts this Christmas.
When buying green, shoppers will not only reduce the amount of packaging - a huge problem at Christmas time - but can also support the falling market prices of recycled materials.
Information on ‘smart shopping’ and other ways to reduce waste over the festive period can be found on the county council’s website on the recycling pages at http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/recycle.
Here are the county council’s top tips on buying green:
Gifts
· Look out for presents made from recycled materials or those that have recycled content.
· Buy a membership to a charity or organisation or a voucher for a theatre performance rather than another object.
· Buy durable gifts that do not reply on disposable parts and that use rechargeable batteries.
· Take any unwanted Christmas gifts to charity shops.
· Go for gift bags or boxes instead of wrapping paper. A funky gift bag or box can then be re-used for another occasion.
· Try different materials instead of wrapping paper – jute cloth, a Christmas themed table cloth or simply just tie a silk or velvet bow around the gift – simple but eye catching and they can be re-used many times.
· Stick to tradition and put presents inside a Christmas stocking that can be reused next year.
· Why not use old comics, magazines, newspapers or pantomime programmes to wrap presents that can all be recycled after the festivities.
· Buy wrapping paper made from 100 per cent recycled materials.
· Buy rechargeable batteries for all the children’s new toys and electrical gadgets - for every 500 charges you will save 499 batteries being thrown away!
Cards
· Try sending e-cards this year. E-cards mean no paper at all but the sentiments are still there.
· Keep the Christmas cards you receive this year and re-use them next year as gift tags or to make in to cards again.
· Eat your words! Why not make biscuits or buns with icing messages instead.
· Save money and the environment – why not donate the money you normally spend on cards to a charity?
· Or make sure you buy cards made from 100 per cent recycled materials.
· Remember to recycle your Christmas cards and donate them to a Christmas card recycling scheme - you can find collection bins in many of the high street retailers.