Minnesota Pollution Control Agency

Contact: CoriAhna Rude-Young, (651) 757-2680 St. Paul, Minn. -- Along with all the fun, festivities and gifts during the holiday season comes something else: more items for the trash bin. On an average day, a typical Minnesotan creates roughly six pounds of waste. But from Thanksgiving to New Years Day, household waste increases by more than 25 percent. Added food waste, shopping bags, packaging, wrapping paper, bows and ribbons - it all adds up to an additional 1 million tons a week to the nation's garbage piles. In fact, 38,000 miles of ribbon alone is thrown out each year - enough to tie a bow around the Earth! There are many things you can do to reduce the amount of waste generated during the holidays. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) offers the following tips on how you can reduce the amount of items going into the trash: -- Choose products made from recycled materials.
-- Buy products with less packaging.
-- Buy rechargeable batteries.
-- Make room for the new gifts by donating outgrown or unwanted gifts to charity.
-- Take the time to call and request that your name be removed from unwanted catalog subscriptions and mailing lists.
-- Donate holiday cards to charities that recycle them.
-- Consider giving a gift of time or an experience, such as making dinner for friends or giving tickets to a theatre or sporting event.
-- Consider buying used. One-of-a-kind gifts can be found at consignment and antique stores.
-- When shopping, bring your own bags or consolidate items into one bag as you go from store to store.
-- Reuse packing cartons and shipping materials, such as shredded paper, bubble wrap and Styrofoam peanuts. Often, extra peanuts can be dropped off at local private mailing centers.
-- Recycle what you can. While things like wrapping paper are not recyclable, all that cardboard that comes with those presents is, so look for things that you can recycle before throwing it all away. For more information on recycling in general and answers to specific recycling questions in your area, visit http://www.recyclemoremn.org.
-- Buy outdoor light strands that are wired in parallel. If one bulb goes bad, the others still work, so you don't end up throwing away "bad" strands.
-- To save energy, put all your lights on timers or use energy-saving LED lights.
-- Cut up last year's holiday cards and use as place cards. More information on reducing holiday waste, as well as other pollution-prevention ideas can be found on the MPCA's Web site, http://www.pca.state.mn.us.