Post-Christmas Wasteland

I'm admittedly late on posting this week's Tree Hugging Tuesday post - and I'm blaming it on the post-Christmas Wasteland that has consumed our home!

As we unwrapped gifts, we sorted everything into appropriate bags to make this week's recycling easier. I thought we did well, but it seems everywhere I turn I find scraps of wrapping paper, ribbon, and tinsel. We have puppies, so we've been trying hard to keep the floor free of anything that will hurt them, but I swear everywhere I look, is something that had been missed.

On top of that, we've been cleaning out the fridge and the garage (that we use for extra storage in the winter, as it's as cold as a fridge) and there are so many plastic containers that various food items came in. We are so sick of appetizers that I'm sure if I made a single appie in the next 6 months, my family would rebel.

We still haven't taken all gifts out of their original packaging - we like to give the kids a couple of days to play with new things before we open everything, so our recycle pile keeps growing and growing.

Then there are the shampoo and laundry bottles that always seem to run out at the same time... it's never ending this week!

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So, I have a couple of reminders for you as you clean after all that cooking, company, and gift exchange:

1) Keep those gift bags for next year! Even those with a few small wrinkles will be just fine if stored folded properly with other bags. If the tissue paper isn't too wrinkled, save that too! Your wallet will thank you!

2) Keep a recycle box upstairs (or near the bedrooms and bathroom) - give your bottles and containers a rinse, and toss them into the recycle instead of the garbage. Same goes for the wrappers on pads and tampons, for those who use them.

3) Start keeping a list of items that your family might like next Christmas that don't require a lot of packaging. This may mean making gifts yourself, and packaging them in reusable cloths or containers.

In any case, be sure to recycle as much as you possibly can. That may mean extra sorting for many people, but you'll feel good about it when it's done (and your grandkids will thank you one day!)

Recycle Rub Off

As some of you may know, we have international students who live with us - two of them. They come and go about every six months, and so far, all of them have been from Asia. We learned with our first student that recycling is not even a bleep on their radar when they arrive in our home. Among teaching them English, western manners (and mannerisms), and that our kids aren’t, in fact, our bosses, we teach them the beauty of recycling.


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For the students that have been in our home, they have absolutely no concept of recycling. When they are unpacking their bags, they bring up plastic bags of bottles and paper from their trip, and they ask where they can throw the trash. Our kids love to intercept the recycle-to-the-garbage process and to tell them about recycling. It is so gratifying to see the students putting the trash into the trash and the recycle into the recycle bin all on their own. It’s even more gratifying to see them pull something out of the trash and say, usually in very broken English, “This belongs in the recycle bin!”

We’d like to hear about your recycle rub-offs.