Wandsworth Council wishes residents a Green Christmas!

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with their top ten tips for reducing seasonal waste

Residents are being urged to have a green Christmas this year by reducing the amount of waste they produce and increasing their recycling.

It is estimated that London will produce around 375,000 tonnes of rubbish this Christmas - that's the equivalent weight of 50,000 double-decker buses.

A lot of the extra waste created at Christmas can be recycled.  All wrapping paper, Christmas cards, card packaging, glass bottles and jars, cans and plastic bottles can be recycled in your orange sack or orange and black recycling bank. Clothes, shoes, CDs and books can be recycled at larger recycling sites.

But there are other ways in which you can have a greener Christmas. The council's top ten festive tips are:

• An estimated one billion Christmas cards are sent out every year. All cards and envelopes can be recycled in your orange sack or recycling bank. WHSmith and Tesco stores are collecting Christmas cards in aid of the Woodland Trust throughout January.

• Consider alternatives to traditional wrapped gifts. Your friends and family might prefer membership to their favourite club, a magazine subscription or a trip to a favourite place.

• If someone gives you an unwanted present or your children receive a toy that is soon discarded, don't throw it away - pass it on to your local hospital, nursery or charity shop.

• Buy rechargeable batteries for children's toys and electrical goods and help save on the millions of batteries that go to landfill each year.

• Around 125,000 tonnes of plastic packaging is thrown away over Christmas. When buying gifts, try to avoid heavily-packaged items.

• When doing your shopping, take a reusable shopping bag or reuse old plastic bags.

• When buying food for your Christmas dinner, choosing loose vegetables will help to cut down on the amount of packaging

• After preparing Christmas dinner, put leftover vegetable peelings into a compost bin. Visit  www.trycomposting.com/wandsworth for details of special offers on compost bins and units. Not all vegetables need to be peeled, but can be washed and you get more vitamins.

• More than 80,000 tonnes of old clothes are thrown away over Christmas. If you need to make space in your wardrobe, take your unwanted clothes to any charity shop or the clothes bank at your local recycling point. 

• Recycle your Christmas Tree or buy a re-usable one. The council will be running its annual free Christmas tree collection service between January 3 and 16. The trees are shredded and turned into compost.

Trees will be collected as part of the borough's normal refuse and recycling service. Residents are requested to leave their tree at the front of their properties in front gardens - they should not be left on pavements unless there is nowhere else at the front of your property to leave it.

Residents who live in blocks of flats should leave their trees near to their refuse bin store, making sure they do not block access to the bin store.

December 23, 2006