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Wrapping up the holidays in an environmentally friendly manner

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November 29, 2004

We've just hit the holiday season and we're all going to be giving and receiving gifts. Keep in mind that the as important as the gifts are, the packaging has an impact also. Think of how much garbage you have on Christmas day when gifts are torn apart and the wrapping paper is shredded all over the living room rug.

We've all received the presents that you need to open with the heavy-duty scissors, children's toys are usually worse! How frustrating is it when your child wants you to open his or her new toy and you have to go and get the scissors to cut through three layers of packaging before your kid can play. Wrapping paper is another way we can recycle this Holliday Season. It's paper so it can be recycled. But the fancy paper that's actually plastic cannot be recycled, so make sure you keep that out of your brown carts, Saco. I like to wrap presents in paper bags and then color the outside. It's more personal and it's cheap! Newspapers are another way to wrap presents. I like to use the funny pages.

Be an environmentally friendly gift giver this year. Think about what will happen to your gift after it's been given. Can it be used more than once? Can it be recycled? Consider buying gifts that do not require batteries. Hard to imagine, I know, but that's money you don't have to spend to provide the batteries, and less waste to go in the trash (no packaging from batteries, and no used batteries later).

Also, think about bringing old toys (still in good condition!) to the GoodWill located at the Saco Transfer Station. There are some people who cannot afford to buy new gifts, and just because your child didn't play with it, doesn't mean that it's not still good for someone else.

If you have questions about recycling or have new ideas on how to reduce waste, please feel free to contact the public works department at aoliver@sacomaine.org or call the recycling office at 282-1552.