After you open all those beautiful gifts from Santa, what do you do with your wrapping paper? What about the ribbons and boys?
There are definitely some dos and don’ts when it comes to recycling holiday wrapping, and doing it incorrectly can be a real problem for recycle plants. So read on, and get ready for Christmas!
- Bows – For the most part, bows aren’t welcome. Most bows are made of a plastic-paper composite that isn’t good for recycling into cardboard, plus the glue on them is also really bad. Reuse them if possible! If not, toss them into the garbage
- Wrapping Paper – The good news is most wrapping paper is okay to recycle, although there are some exceptions. Any paper that’s metallic, has glitter, or has velvety flocking on it is a no-no. Regular wrapping paper that still has the tape on it is also totally fine.
- Ribbons – These are a huge no when it comes to recycling. Ribbons, like plastic bags, twine and any other long and stringy item, can get wrapped around spinning shafts in the equipment used to recycle, which causes lots of problems. Kind of like when hair gets stuck around in your vacuum cleaner.
- Christmas Cards – Like wrapping paper, plain paper cards are totally okay to recycle, but shiny cards, and those printed on photo paper are just garbage, as are any with metallic embossing or glitter.
- Shipping Boxes – With all that online shopping you did you probably have a lot of cardboard boxes, and they are perfect to recycle, but it’s recommended to break them down flat in order to save room in recycling trucks for more boxes.
Source: USA Today