Celebrate this Holiday Season with Less Waste

This holiday season, make a lasting impact by choosing to create memories, not garbage. When it comes to gift-giving, think outside the box! Give the gift of experiences, such as tickets to a museum, a spa day, a weekend getaway, or start a new hobby together. You can also share homemade baked goods, vintage finds, handmade crafts, or gently used books and clothing that have been thoughtfully selected or upcycled. Use Metro Vancouver's Merry Memory Maker tool for over 200 low-waste gift ideas, sorted by price range.

For gift wrapping, reduce waste by reusing materials you already have on hand. Try using fabric scraps, old maps, magazines, or last year’s wrapping paper. You can also repurpose brown paper bags or create your own gift tags from cardboard. Explore more sustainable wrapping ideas on Metro Vancouver’s Wrap Wise tool.

Once the celebrations have ended, take a moment to sort through your waste and check what goes in your recycling, Green Cart, and garbage using the What Goes Where tool. Reuse wrapping paper if you can but if it can’t be salvaged, paper wrapping can go in paper recycling. Gift wrap made of plastic, foil, or with embellishments like glitter, cannot be recycled and belongs in the garbage. Items like old batteries, light bulbs, small appliances, and electronics can be recycled year-round at no cost through provincial programs. Find drop off locations. 

Real Christmas trees can be composted by taking it to a Recycling and Waste Centre or bringing it to a local community tree-chipping event hosted by a non-profit organization. If your community group is hosting a tree-chipping event in the Township, contact us at 778-288-4193 before Thursday, December 19, 2024 to be added to the event list that will be available on our website soon.