AUSTIN, Texas — While the holidays are filled with great meals and gifts, they're also the most trash-filled months of the year.
Austin Resource Recovery is encouraging Austinites to reuse, repair and repurpose when gifting this holiday season.
Madelyn Morgan with Austin Resource Recovery said Americans are generating 23% more waste in December than any other month of the year.
"If people are using disposables and things around the holidays more than they would at other times during the year, if those aren't making it into the right receptacles, they can end up as plastic pollution," said Morgan. "Ending up in our lakes and ultimately making its way to the ocean."
Also, more trash means we'll eventually need a place to put it all in.
"There's not a need to build more landfills," added Morgan. "Which typically are built and historically built in areas that are less desirable. And that has impacts on the surrounding neighborhoods that are kind of, have been historically forced to move there."
Morgan encourages you to think differently about your gifting habits.
"Gifting your time," she said. "Experiences like the movies or concerts or museums, using a local repair shop."
Other zero-waste gift ideas for getting started include:
- Supporting local Austin businesses and organizations (concerts, theater performances, restaurant gift cards).
- Purchasing a second-hand sweater and turning it into a scarf, pillow cover, or a no-sew dog sweater.
- Polishing a loved one’s favorite leather wallet or handbag.
Austinites can also reduce holiday waste by:
- Reusing materials like newspapers, posters, maps or fabric to wrap gifts.
- Sending e-cards instead of mailing paper holiday cards.
- Using and washing reusable tableware for holiday meals instead of single-use disposable options.
- Keeping track of leftovers and composting what cannot be eaten.
By being resourceful with your Christmas gifts this year, it'll help the City of Austin reach its zero waste goal by 2040.
"Which means keeping 90% of all material generated in Austin out of landfills and incinerators," said Morgan.