Recycling During the Holidays

The -BER months have arrived. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! It’s almost time for sweaters and hot chocolate and ridiculously oversized blankets for snuggling underneath. But it is also a time for excess, and with excess comes trash and recyclables. 

Packages will soon be piling up at your door. Last minute shopping for holiday parties and family members will increase. Cooking will go up. Decorations will fly onto the house. Wrapping paper will roll down the hallway. And merriment will surely be had.

To consolidate all these new items in your home, here is a list of common holiday items that DO and DO NOT go in your curbside recycling cart.

HOLIDAY ITEMS THAT DO GO IN YOUR CART

Kitchen Items

  • #5 empty plastic tubs (yogurt, butter sour cream, and other cream containers)
  • #1 empty plastic bottles and jugs 
  • #1 empty clamshell containers
  • Empty glass bottles and jars 
  • Paper and cardboard 
  • Aluminum, tin and steel cans (sodas and food cans like beans, corn, and soups)

Gift Wrapping and Holiday Cards

  • Paper decorations (cannot be glittery, laminated, or smaller than a credit card)
  • Cardboard gift boxes
  • Paper gift bags  (without strings or holders)
  • Cardboard rolls (rolls inside wrapping paper, toilet paper, and paper towels)
  • Holiday cards (cannot be glittery, laminated, or contain an audio chip)

HOLIDAY ITEMS THAT DO NOT GO IN YOUR CART

Kitchen Items

  • Plastic bags (grocery bags and shopping bags)
  • Plastic vegetable and fruit wrappings (the little plastic bags place perishables in)
  • Candy wrappers
  • Single-use plastic utensils 
  • Waxed and coated parchment paper
  • Food waste and scraps
  • Grease covered packaging

Decorations

  • Tanglers (wires from string lights to garlands)
  • Lightbulbs
  • Inflatables (yard decorations)
  • Tinsel and ribbons
  • Christmas trees (both plastic and real)

Gift Wrapping

  • Shiny plastic wrapping paper
  • Cards with metallic foil and glitter
  • Plastic bags, air pillows, and Styrofoam from shipping boxes
  • Tissue paper