Christmas brings families together and provides fun for young and old alike. However, the extra work at home, the extra money spent on all those gifts, and the mess left by wrapping and decorations can cause some real strain as you go into the New Year.
Luckily, recycling can prove a great solution to all of these problems if you think creatively. By recycling everything the holidays leave behind, you can keep the environment thriving for many Christmases to come—and if you find the right things, you can even put some extra cash in your pocket.
Scrap Metal Recycling After Christmas
Know anyone who has a metal tree stand? These are often made of iron, and can be worth some money because of their weight. There are also plenty of other great opportunities for recycling just after Christmas.
For example, all those lights and extension cords that have finally given out can be sold as insulated wire. While this may not net you a fortune, it can at the least make buying replacements for next year a bit easier!
In addition to netting you a little cash, recycling electrical wire can have a huge benefit for the environment because so much of it simply goes to the landfill—and because mining new metal for wire isn’t cheap or great for the Earth.
Some tree ornaments, too, are made of valuable metals like brass and aluminum. If you find that you simply have too many ornaments, you could see if any of them are worth anything. Older ornaments are more likely to have scrap metal value, but all of them are at the least worth looking into.
Recycling Non-Metal Products After Christmas
All that wrapping and tissue paper can be recycled, and putting it in your blue recycling bin instead of in the garbage can do the environment a huge favor. There are also several ways you can get even more creative with your post-Christmas cleaning and recycling—and these also have a huge boost for the environment.
For example, you can take your Christmas tree to any Home Depot in the Dallas metro area, and the city will have it turned into mulch. This is a great way to help our community too!
You can also take the post-Christmas lull as a great opportunity to look into reusing waste or giving away things that you don’t need. Get a great new jacket or pair of shoes for Christmas? Try donating your old one to a local charity, such as a homeless shelter. The spirit of giving doesn’t have to end with the holiday season!
All those pine needles can make a great start to a home compost pile too. If you garden, creating a compost pile at home can save you time, and it also has the potential to reduce your home’s waste by a huge amount.
Do you have any great Chrismas recycling ideas we haven’t thought of? Leave them in the comments, or give us a call anytime to learn more about the wonderful world of recycling!
