The frenzy of lining up to send packages, zipping out for string lights and stocking the fridge with eggnog is done.
As you relax from what may have been a busy few weeks, you might survey your recycling box to find it overflowing. Before you kick it all to the curb, or fill your car for a depot drop off, it’s good to review what goes where.
With online shopping reaching a peak these days, you may be accumulating boxes, envelopes and styrofoam in abundance. Be sure to flatten all cardboard and boxboard containers before recycling, although you don’t need to worry about tape or staples as both are removed during the recycling process.
If material doesn’t fit into your bin, put in bundles no larger than eight inches thick and 30 by 30 inches wide. Place on top, next to or between recycling boxes curbside, or drop off directly at depots.
Many types of foam packaging are accepted at depots except packing peanuts and squishy close-celled foam that doesn’t break off into little pieces easily.
Large envelopes are a trickier category, even for avid recyclers. If entirely made of plastic, take to depots and place in the “Other Flexible Plastic Packaging” stream. If envelopes are purely paper, recycle either curbside or at depots, but if envelopes are paper-lined with bubble wrap, reuse or place them in the garbage as there is no current way to efficiently recycle these.
You may have brought a few new electronics into your life this season, and if they are replacing broken items, these can be dropped off at Sunset Coast Bottle Depot free of charge.
Expired household batteries are potentially toxic to groundwater and soil so they need to be properly disposed of. Fortunately, there are many local drop off locations, including Rona, Canadian Tire, Augusta Recyclers and most recycling depots.
Speaking of gadgets, greeting cards with batteries, glitter or glue contaminate the paper recycling stream and need to be disassembled before sending to paper, battery and garbage (glitter) streams. This goes for gift bags adorned with rope, stickers or other non-paper bling; remove these first and then place remaining paper in the recycling bin. Shiny and metallic wrapping paper has plastic content and that is a no-no for the paper stream, so it can be reused for crafts or sent to the landfill.
If you want to stay on Santa’s nice list next year, rinse and dry your food and beverage containers before recycling. You can leave paper and plastic labels on, though, and no need to remove drink container lids (providing you’ve already cleaned them out, of course).
All beverage containers, except milk and milk substitutes, receive deposit returns and so are not included in curbside bins. Instead, you can donate these to depot staff, locals collecting, or take directly to Sunset Coast Bottle Depot on Duncan Street to receive your cash deposit back.
With a little imagination, you were likely able to prevent much of your holiday waste before it even started this year. Congrats to those who baked, crafted with natural or found materials, regifted, or bought secondhand items as gifts.
Let’s Talk Trash is qathet Regional District’s waste reduction education program. Find its Holiday Green Guide at LetsTalkTrash.ca.
