Christmas indulgence without the waste

December 2007

The festive season is on us. With that comes all the warmth and comfort of having friends, family and loved ones near for some good company and good times. The holidays are all about indulgence - and there's nothing wrong with that!

National figures suggest that the average family will spend £169 on food this Christmas. WRAP (the Waste & Resources Action Programme) estimates around a third of this will end up in the bin. That works out to be £56 - enough to feed two people for a week! And then there's presents to consider, a tree and decorations, entertaining others - and we all like to have too much rather than not enough.

Food: Plan what you need to buy in advance. And if you end up cooking too much food, think about what you can do with your leftovers to make sure you're not wasting the food and the money you spent on it in the first place. Click here for more information and tips.

Christmas tree: Reuse your Christmas tree and decorations next year if you have a fake one. If you have a real one with roots, you can always plant it in the garden. If you have a real one without roots, get it chipped after Christmas so it can be used as a mulch - check your local district or borough council website for details of tree collections or take it along to a community recycling centre.

Presents: If you've yet to do your Christmas shopping, have a think about things you'd like to give that produce less waste. Think about the amount of packaging that goes into gifts, plus the wrapping paper. You can reuse last year's wrapping paper for this year's presents, or use a gift bag or box that can be used time and time again. Or how about giving someone a gift voucher, an experience , or an ethical gift for third world countries? Doing little things to reduce your Christmas waste can make a big difference. For other tips, download a copy of the Green Christmas Guide.

To receive free tips and hints on how to reduce, reuse and recycle your waste text REDUCE to 83010. Your sign-up text message will be charged at your standard network operator rate. You can stop this free service at any time by texting STOP to 83010.