A cleaner, greener Christmas

The festive season has arrived, and although we can’t guarantee it will be a white Christmas in Hertsmere, we can easily contribute to making it a green one.

It is expected that as a nation this Christmas, we will consume over 750,000 tonnes of Christmas pudding, 19,000 tonnes of turkey and 5.5 million jars of mincemeat. We will throw away 83 square kilometres of wrapping paper and post more than 150 million greetings cards.

That may create a lot of festive cheer, but it will also create a lot of rubbish - but remember, there are lots of ways to reduce, reuse and recycle.

The needles on your tree have fallen and the decorations have come down – instead of throwing out your unwanted Christmas tree, why not recycle it? Christmas trees are accepted at Household Waste Sites throughout Hertfordshire, in your green waste wheelie bin (remember the lid must shut) or at one of our tree shredding mornings.

Shredding mornings are taking place between 10am and midday on:

• Saturday 6 January: Wyevale Garden Centre, Potters Bar
• Monday 8 January: Newberries car park, Radlett
• Tuesday 9 January: Kemp Place car park, Bushey
• Wednesday 10 January: Civic Offices car park, Borehamwood
• Thursday 11 January: Oakmere car park, Potters Bar
• Saturday 13 January: Wyevale Garden Centre, Potters Bar

Councillor Jean Heywood, Environment portfolio holder, said: “Of course, if you don’t wish to recycle your tree you could buy a Christmas tree with roots and plant it in the garden.”

Tesco is recycling Christmas cards on behalf of the Woodland Trust. Last year the campaign collected the equivalent of at least one card for every person in Britain.

“It is all about better use of resources and being armed with the knowledge to make this Christmas a more environmentally friendly one,” adds Cllr Heywood.

“Help your children to jump on old cans to crush them before taking them to the collection bank. Challenge your children to look for ways to cut down on packaging while buying your Christmas food – waste awareness can become part of everyday activities.”

There are lots of other, simple ways you can help the environment – and your purse:

• collect wrapping paper ready to use again next year
• store meal leftovers in reusable containers or old margarine tubs rather than wrapping it in cling film or foil
• use old Christmas cards as present tags

Cllr Heywood is encouraging a new year, new start. She suggests people with gardens start a compost heap or get a wormery to get rich organic compost from kitchen refuse. “Remember, we offer free kitchen caddies and biodegradable bags are available from Hertsmere Leisure, which means you can recycle your food waste in your green wheelie bin.

“Being green isn’t just for Christmas. Unless we cut the amount of rubbish we put in our bins, the environment will be paying the price for it in the future. The statistics are dramatic and appalling. In the UK alone we generate enough waste to fill the Albert Hall every two hours.”

More information on reducing, reusing and recycling is available on the Council’s website: www.hertsmere.gov.uk.

WasteAware is a partnership of Hertfordshire councils, which provides advice on how to recycle your household waste www.wasteaware.org.uk