Recycling Tips Make Holidays More Eco-Friendly

The holidays bring families and friends together to share meals and exchange gifts. They are also a great time to encourage even wider adoption of recycling habits.

“The holidays are a very paper intense season, so we wanted to capture and grow their interest with practical and fun ways to make the holidays more earth friendly,” said Mary Anne Hansan, president, Paper and Packaging Board (P+PB). “Since paper and paper packaging can be recycled up to seven times and are sourced from trees—a renewable resource, the abundance of paper during the holidays makes it a great time to build better recycling habits for families.”

P+PB has a guide to make it even easier: “Celebrate the Holidays Sustainably with Paper.” The guide includes a list of tips with easy, practical ways to recycle and reuse paper and paper-based products to make the holidays even more sustainable. In addition, here are tips for celebrating the holidays sustainably:

• Turn a shipping box from online delivery orders into holiday recycling bins. Place them strategically around the house to encourage easy recycling.
• Empty and flatten cardboard gift and shipping boxes before recycling. No need to remove tape or shipping labels.
• Send guests home with paper containers for the holidays. Paper to-go containers (and other products like paper baking pans and paper cake molds) are all made from a renewable source.
• Turn cardboard boxes into game boards, a kid’s fort, and more. Shipping appliance boxes can be a better present than the gifts that come inside when you turn them into hideaways or racing cars.
• Cushion gifts and ornaments that are fragile or being shipped by using festive paper-based filler options like recyclable tissue paper, crinkle paper, or kraft paper.
• Choose the perfect card. Avoid ones with glitter or made from photo paper; otherwise, paper cards and envelopes are recyclable.
• Wrap gifts with earth-friendly style. Brown kraft paper or wrapping paper without glitter or foils is recyclable.

The good news is that a majority (66%) of U.S. adult consumers believe that recycling paper is worth it and 60% feel that recycling is easy, according to recent P+PB research. Even though recycling is more accepted, consumers still need help remembering best practices and reminders about what can and cannot be recycled. Beyond the holidays, understanding which paper items are typically accepted for recycling can transform the seasonal recycling spirit into a year-round habit.

Recyclable items include:

• Notebooks, catalogs, and phone books
• Receipts (unless they have thermal coatings)
• Mail, envelopes (even those with windows), and coupons
• White and colored paper, printer paper, file folders, and stationery
• Boxes like pizza boxes and ones for cereal, shoes, laundry detergent, and medicine
• Juice, egg, and milk cartons
• Magazines (no need to remove staples)

Consumers should check local guidelines to confirm as they can vary by location and are frequently updated.