Cut down on holiday waste

Think about that Christmas wrapping and where it will end up. Photo / APN

Before you dump yesterday's debris - wrapping paper, ribbons, ties, plastic and boxes - spare a thought for the planet.

Estimates say the waste produced on Christmas Day is double any other day of the year. And most of it ends up in our landfills.

But Jo Knight, director of Zero Waste New Zealand, has plenty of suggestions for reducing what goes out on rubbish day, increasing what can be recycled and saving money.

"The first thing is that you can fold wrapping paper and save it for next year. The paper that is not metallic can go in recycling. The clam-shell plastic covering can go to plastic recycling and the ties go into the kitchen drawer to use again."

Even leftover scraps of food, such as the turkey carcass, can be put to good use, she says. "I think we should be composting them. A small, anaerobic digester would be great. If we put all our food waste into those we could be running cars and powering all sorts of things."

Knight says Aucklanders produce about 180,000 tonnes of food waste each year but some planning can reduce the amount of waste.

"Wrap things in cloth. You can buy some nice patterned cloth and, of course, keep the cloth."

A dog-grooming course is a great example of experience-type gifts which are an alternative to traditional gifts that need wrapping. Unless you plan to re-use metallic gift wrap next year avoid it because it can't be recycled.