Post-Christmas Recycling Tips

For those who partied hard last December 25, a post-Christmas hangover from the holiday high might be felt these days. This is intensified as hills of gift wrappings and Christmas cards greet us from odd corners of the living room and the bedroom.

One of the most common throwaway waste items of the Christmas season, paper based trash threaten to add tons to year-end garbage worldwide. How does one recycle the colorful gift wrappings and greeting cards you received? Here are several post-Christmas recycling ideas, see if you can add some of your own!

Christmas gift wrappings. The color and cheer that Christmas wrappers bring doesn’t need to last only in season. With a few creative ideas, they can be enjoyed all year and bring us a little piece of Christmas every day. Reuse Christmas wrappings as protective packaging for future fragile/breakable gifts. Wrap them around a fragile object to act as a sort of cushion against hard impacts and falls. Old Christmas wrappings are also great for colorful origamis for children. Cut them out in squares of different sizes and practice your paper folding skills with your kids. Another idea is to reuse them as notebook, book, and journal covers.

A particular memorable gift might be all the more special if covered with a nostalgic Christmas wrapper to be a year round reminder of that special someone. Gift wrappers of this size are also good as tabletop covers. Dressers, small cabinets, and work/study desks might be able to use a little holiday cheer to boost your mood. Lastly, Christmas wrappers can also be used as absorbent rags for spills and stains on windows, glass surfaces, and others.

Christmas greeting cards. More than a few of us can admit to having a boxful of old greeting cards. Or, for the not-so-organized, odd stashes of dusty greeting cards sent by well meaning family and friends that can be an occasional surprise during spring cleaning. Somehow it feels wrong to dump the heartfelt notes in the bin and so we accumulate a pile over the years. Here’s how to free up some space between your books and not feel guilty at the same time about the cards: Cut out the greeting cards and use as gift tags.

Add a little decorative cut to make it more unique. You can also cut them into vertical strips to make several bookmarks. If you treasure the messages, cut them out of the cards and make a collage to hang in your bedroom (or living room, if you’re brave). This way you’ll have a collective reminder of all the funny and inspiring notes your family and friends have sent you over the years. Turn over some of the colorful pieces of the card to brighten up the collage of messages. You can also put in some pictures of the senders if you like.

Christmas cards are also thick and durable enough for crafts. Collect and give them to children for their art classes and homemade crafts. You may want to cut out the messages if some are too personal to share in an art project.

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Estel (303 Posts)

Estel Grace Masangkay is a freelance creative writer who enjoys outdoor trips and activities in natural settings. She is passionate about animal welfare and environment conservation. Follow Me @Em23me.

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