Holiday Paper Recycling: Fast Facts

Exactly how much waste is created during the holidays? Here are some fast facts.

According to the EPA, from Thanksgiving straight on until New Year’s Day, Americans accumulate about 25% more trash than any time of year. That’s because there’s added food waste from holiday celebrations, not to mention shopping bags, packaging, wrapping paper, bows, and ribbons. Exactly how much waste is created during the holidays?

According to CalRecycle, a whopping 2.6 billion holiday cards are sold each year in the United States. That’s a lot of trash!

According to the Clean Air Council, “In the U.S., an additional 5 million tons of waste is generated during the holidays. Four million tons of this is wrapping paper and shopping bags.”

Did you know that you cannot recycle bows, ribbons, styrofoam, or wrapping paper? Most wrapping paper is heavily dyed, laminated and/or contains non-paper additives such as gold and silver lining. It can, however, be reused!

According to the American Research Group, the average American spends $800 on gifts over the holiday season, keeping credit and banking companies busy, and making more statements for you to file and keep.

What can you do to reduce the amount of trash you’ll accumulate this holiday season?  Here are some quick actions you can take to help with holiday paper recycling:

  • Use gift bags that can be used over and over again instead of wrapping paper.
  • Use reusable ribbon instead of tape, which isn’t always recyclable
  • Another alternative to wrapping paper is using brown paper bags from the grocery store.
  • Reuse bows and ribbons and put away extra for next year, eliminating that line item completely from your budget!

And because we are all about staying green and keeping clean, put your holiday cards in the shred bin along with your holiday bank and credit card statements. These can be shredded along with your sensitive information so that it will be recycled instead of sitting in a landfill.

At Legal Shred, we recycle all shredded documents not only for peace of mind, but for the good of the environment.

Paper is one of the most used materials in circulation. By relying on a professional and secure document destruction company like Legal Shred, your paper waste, including holiday cards and bank statements, are rendered unusable, therefore more safe and secure for you and better for our planet.

Contact us today for your holiday paper recycling needs!

Holiday Paper Recycling

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