With the silly season almost upon us, follow these handy suggestions to reduce your festive waste and prevent overflowing bins. 

By not overfilling your bin, you will also help prevent litter escaping that could end up in our precious waterways via the drain in your street.

1. Ditch the disposables

Avoid single-use soft plastics and unnecessary packaging where you can.

Store your left-over Christmas lunch in containers, avoid buying fruit and veggies wrapped in soft plastics and ask your local bakery to pop your bread in a paper bag.

Remember that there is a NSW plastic ban on single-use plastic straws, stirrers, cutlery, plastic plates and bowls. Serve your festive food in reusable cups, glasses, plates, bowls and cutlery and ditch these disposable items where you can.

2. Reduce food waste

With all the preparations and activities going on, a lot of food can end up in the bin. Once in landfill, food waste produces greenhouse gases that impact our environment.

Some food waste is difficult to avoid – so consider composting or a worm farm to keep your food waste to a minimum.

You can also check out how local chef Suzanne Lambert uses food items such as wilted greens and even apple skins in her delicious recipes.

For further ideas visit Love Food Hate Waste for inspiring tips on how to reduce your food waste including free video tutorials and handbook with recipes and food storage ideas.

3.  Rethink your gift wrapping

According to a survey by Care Australia¹, the average Aussie uses eight metres of paper for their Christmas gift – that’s a lot of trees!  Instead, be creative and use fabric scraps, ribbons (source some from the bargain bin) or reuse last year’s Christmas gift bags and paper.

4. Recycle your packaging

Received a gift packaged in polystyrene? Don’t let it go to landfill. If it’s 100% clean, white and dry take it to one of our Polystyrene Drop-off Collection Days, with the first event on Sunday 21 January, 8am and 4pm at Kimbriki.

Whilst at Kimbriki you can also drop off your dead Christmas trees, excess carboard and containers for recycling to help avoid overfilling your bins. 

Enjoy your summer holiday and thank you for helping to keep the Northern Beaches clean.

Reference: Care Australia¹