Make a greener holiday: Reduce, reuse, recycle

Vancouver, WA – The last few weeks of the year are often unusually heavy garbage weeks. Plan ahead to reduce your holiday waste, and let your new blue recycling cart help with the recycling.

· Reduce waste when shopping. Don’t forget your reusable shopping bags. Try to avoid buying items with bulky or non-recyclable packaging, such as block foam and blister packs. Look for recycled content in cards and gift wrap, and buy wrap that can be recycled.

· Give good experiences. A gift of your time spent with friends and family members may be the gift they appreciate most. Consider giving tickets to movies, concerts, ball games or other events, along with club memberships.

· Make the package part of the gift. Place holiday goodies in a reusable candy dish or cookie tin or wrap a handmade brooch or pin in a scarf.

· Reuse or recycle that gift wrap. Save gift bags, ribbons and bows to use again. Cardboard boxes and most wrapping paper (but not foil-covered paper) can be recycled. Remove ribbons, bows and plastic from paper to be recycled. Put recyclable paper boxes and gift wrap in with other mixed paper in your blue cart for easy curbside pickup.

· Recycle your Christmas tree. Remove tinsel, lights and other decorations. Residents with yard debris collection can cut up trees to fit in yard debris carts (5 foot maximum length). Boy Scouts will collect trees (Scouts suggest a $7 donation taped to your door, and trees should not be placed next to your curbside carts). Trees also can be dropped off wherever yard debris is recycled for a charge.

· Recycle your phone books, catalogs and calendars. Place them in the blue recycling cart.

· Recycle your household batteries. Put dry-cell batteries in a sealed clear plastic bag and place on top of your blue recycling cart.

For more waste prevention and recycling ideas and information, please visit www.clark.wa.gov/recycle/holidaywastereduction.html or call Clark County Solid Waste Program at (360) 397-6118 ext. 4352.