Try this quick tip to see if your wrapping paper can be recycled
Experts want us to be more eco-friendly with it this year
Tis’ the season to make sure our wrapping paper goes in the right bin on Christmas Day!
Recycling expert Sara Perry has told Greatest Hits Radio News some top tips on what we can do to make sure we have a very merry green Christmas, without a sustainable hangover.
It comes as new research from Veolia reveals 63% of us use 2 or more rolls of wrapping paper at Christmas with that averaging 2.35 rolls over the festive season.
In fact, they told us we use enough wrapping paper to wrap around the world 9 times!
Top gift wrap tips
One top tip is making the most of old newspapers instead and if you do use wrapping paper, double check it’s 100% recyclable.
"Not all wrapping paper can be recycled" said Sara.
"Once presents are opened, try the scrunch test!"
How to do the scrunch test
"It's really easy to do. Just grab a square of the paper and screw it up in a ball. If it stays scrunched up it can be recycled." said Sara.
"If it pops back out and opens out, unfortunately that's not recyclable - but you could potentially reuse it."
On average, 219cm of wrapping paper is recycled but worryingly 154cm gets thrown away after the presents have been opened – so there’s more to be done!
Is it better to buy a real or a fake tree?
"There's an ongoing debate whether a real tree or artificial is the more sustainable option!" said Sara.
"If you've already got your tree, the best thing I can say is box it up and keep reusing it year after year. If you reuse your artificial tree for more than 10 years, it has as little of a carbon impact as if you would use a real tree."
When it comes to Christmas trees it seems we are more inclined to go for a fake tree with 70% of the UK opting for one over the real thing.
Scots more likely to use them (76%) than the rest of the UK and that’s despite an artificial tree sending 40kg of co2 emissions into the atmosphere compared to the 3.5kg that a real tree does.
"Make sure your real tree is recycled, keep decorating that artificial tree for over 12 years or rent one for the most sustainable options."
Either way, you need to recycle both with the artificial tree needing to be disregarded after 12 years according to Sara.
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