AUSTIN (KXAN) — People produce more waste during the holiday season, according to conservation experts. This year, while you take time to enjoy the company of friends and family, here are some ways you can reduce and repurpose waste.
The City of Austin has set a goal to reach zero waste by 2040, lowering the number of trash it sends to landfills around Austin by 90%.
Texas Disposal Systems is one entity in Central Texas striving to help reach this goal. TDS Sustainability Supervisor Greg Behl said although you may find yourself with more waste at home this time of year, it is important to remember most of this waste has a purpose and can be repurposed in many ways.
"We like to have fun, but also make sure that we take care of our surroundings and be good stewards to the environment," Behl said.
Some of the most common waste products seen left after a holiday can be food, Christmas trees, holiday decorations, cardboard boxes, or gift bags, according to Behl.
TDS and Behl have provided a few tips to help minimize waste during the holiday season festivities.
Send guests home with leftovers, plan ahead by purchasing to-go containers. Make sure your guest know your goal is to reduce waste and there is plenty of food pack up and take home for later. If you must toss some leftovers out, remember food waste cannot go into your recycling bin.
"If food goes into the recycling bin, it might contaminate some of the actual recoverable recyclables. We don't want that so, the next best thing is just to throw it in the trash, then it will go to a landfill," said Behl.
If you do not have a composting provider, don't worry composting can be done at home with minimal materials. "When you do compost at home, you want to start with just vegetables, fruit, eggshells, and coffee grounds. You don't want to put any meat products in there. But if you get a tumbler, you can actually do it in your backyard and produce the compost right there at home," Behl said.
According to Behl, real Christmas trees are quite easy to recycle and compost.
"We are offering free drop-ups starting the day after Christmas through the end of January, so you can just come on down, drop off your Christmas tree, and we'll make sure that it gets mulched and then composted," Behl said.
Aside from TDS the City of Austin also offers this service, visit the city website for a list of drop-off locations and dates.
If you are over last year's decorations, do not just toss them out. Although they are out of style for you, they may still be in perfectly good use for a new owner. Start by donating, put them up for sale in a neighborhood group chat, gift them to a friend, or visit your local second-hand shop donation station.
TDS has created its own storefront where you can drop off or pick up gently used items, perfect for the holiday season.
"We have a resale shop where we separate out all these materials that can be reused, you can come down here and drop them off, or you could come here and buy some for next year if you want," Behl said.
The City of Austin also offers a location where all residents can drop off used items called 'Big Reuse', you can schedule a drop-off with them on the city website.
Behl said one waste product that can be tricky to sort is wrapping paper. Although paper is in the name sometimes it may not be recyclable.
"Folks get confused with wrapping paper, so they kind of shove it all into the recycling, which is fine. I think the rule of thumb on that is the more shiny it is, the less recyclable it is," Behl said.
To avoid gift bag waste simply keep them. Keeping gift bags helps reduce waste in our landfills and our pockets, avoid repurchasing them and save money next year.
If you ordered gifts online this year you may be left with more cardboard boxes than you can keep, make sure these are placed in your recycling bin.
