We’re excited to announce our first guest writer at Dunn Recycling;  Lillian Swift is a creative writer from Northern Arizona University. As an aspiring writer she specializes in writing about green living.  She approached me about writing for our blog.    Lillian, I hope you send me more!  Thank you!

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Each year, one of the first customs of Christmas is to get out holiday decorations, which usually means facing a mass of impossibly tangled strings of lights that have to be untangled and then tested before going on the tree or outside to decorate bushes, trees or one’s house. Many times, rather than facing this problematic task, people simply discard the old strands from their homes and apartments to buy new ones. However, these old strands may be recyclable.

Some manufacturers of LED lights accept the return of old traditional lights and send them to a recycling center that separates them into their components parts, such as glass and copper. Additionally, some merchants will give customers who turn in their old traditional lights a discount on the purchase of new LED lights. Replacing traditional lights with LED lights is becoming a popular option. Not only does this save on the electric bill, as LED lights use around 95 percent less electricity than traditional lights, but, also, unlike traditional lights, if a single bulb goes out, the rest of the strand will still turn on.

Another option for dealing with old strands of lights is donate any strands that still work to a school or charity. They can also be used as night-lights or as a means for making a patio or outside area look festive. Many people, as well as businesses, choose to leave these lights up all year, as they are decorative no matter what the season. .

Christmas trees also cause some problems, as it has been estimated that 33 million trees are sold in North America annually and a majority of them end up in landfills. If a real tree is purchased, after the holidays it can be taken to a recycling center where it will be processed into mulch. There are many municipal recycling programs that offer tree collection and process trees in this manner.

Wrapping paper is another holiday item that is great for recycling. While most wrapping paper is made from virgin materials, products made from recycled paper are also on the market. A point to keep in mind when purchasing paper is that sparkly or shiny paper, while festive, cannot be recycled.

Another option is to wrap presents in brown paper, such as grocery bags that have been cut and laid out flat. Before wrapping, children can be recruited to draw brightly colored Christmas scenes on the paper, making it more festive. It is also possible to wrap gifts in maps, or the Sunday comics, which are already brightly colored or cloth, which is the ultimate in recyclable wrapping material, as it can be folded, stored and used the next year. As this illustrates, recycling holiday items simply requires imagination.

Even though the holidays have passed, it is possible that extra lights or an unused item may still be sitting around in the garage. Tips like these serve to help those who want to tone down their amount of decorations as some items become older and unable to use anymore.  Regardless, having some of these strategies in mind for the next holiday season will only continue to help the environment in the long term.