The Twelfth Night

As last night was the twelfth night of Christmas, here at the office we took down all of our festive decorations. After the celebrations of Christmas, a lot of waste can be generated, so I thought I would share with you a few ideas on how to easily dispose of this waste and be a little bit greener.

Christmas trees
Many local authorities now provide a Christmas tree recycling service where they will shred your old tree into chips. These chips can then be used as a soil improver, mulch or added to the local authority compost accelerator. Visit www.direct.gov.uk to find out if your local authority offers this service.

Christmas cards
You can take all your old Christmas cards to WH Smith, Tesco, TK Maxx or Marks & Spencer for recycling under the Woodland Trust scheme. They plant thousands of trees every year and are creating forests and woodlands at five UK sites. For more information visit www.woodland-trust.org.uk/cards

And finally, The Environment Agency and Oxfam have asked that this year we donate unwanted clothes, books and household items to charity shops. Last year, Oxfam and Marks and Spencer carried out research which revealed that there were over £4.7 million worth of unworn clothes in the nation’s cupboards. More than 1 million tonnes of clothes are estimated to be sent to landfill each year, thus contributing to the gaseous emissions that cause climate change. So why not make space in your wardrobe for those January sale bargains, and donate some of your unwanted clothes to charity.