The chances of a green Christmas in Prince George are improving by the day but the Regional District of Fraser-Fort George and REAPS are wanting this result for an entirely different reason.
Both groups want recycling and waste diversion to be top of mind when using various utensils and materials like wrapping paper and cutlery.
The Christmas season often leads to higher volumes of waste according to RDFFG spokesperson Rachel Ryder.
“It’s estimated that Canadians toss out fifty kilograms more garbage at Christmas time than they do at any other time of the year so that’s a 25% increase.”
Both groups offer some helpful tips to waste this time of year.
One of them should be avoiding disposable plastics at all costs.
“If you’re hosting parties or Christmas dinners try to avoid serving food and drinks on disposable plates and cups as they will just add to our waste. Think about borrowing extra plates from your neighbor or renting the wine glasses and plates from party rental stores, don’t forget you can also shop at thrift stores,” said Terri McClymont, REAPS Executive Director.
“Bamboo utensils are quite good and there are glass and stainless steel straws, more friendly paper plates that you can use as well and a lot of people like to shop at thrift stores to look at those mixed and matched China plates.”
Anyone needing to do some recycling over the holidays should have no shortage of options at their disposable as the best way to discard of certain materials is right at your fingertips.
“Things like wrapping paper, batteries, electronics, and even Christmas lights there is a lot of opportunities to recycle them throughout Prince George so a great resource to use is Recycle-a-pedia app on your smartphone and that will let you know where to take that whether it’s the landfill or the bottle depot.”
Local landfills will be closed on Christmas, Boxing and New Year’s Day.