This browser does not support the Video element.
Gift Outside The Box campaign aims at reducing holiday waste
FOX 5’s Melanie Alnwick has tips on what you can do to help the environment and keep your homes tidy and clean amid the holiday chaos!
ROCKVILLE, Md. - Americans generate 25% more trash from Thanksgiving to New Year's and Montgomery County is working on ways to bring that number down.
The Gift Outside the Box campaign aims at reducing the amount of waste produced through wrapping gifts and ordering presents online.
Each year that extra waste adds up to 25 million tons of garbage, says FOX 5's Melanie Alnwick.
In 2020, Montgomery County recycled 764,375 tons of materials, including glass, metals, paper, plastic, and compostable items. It's better though, Alnwick says, to reduce the trash at the start.
Here are some lower-waste gift ideas for the holidays:
Buy Local:
-Gifts made in Maryland
-Gifts from Maryland farmers markets
Gift Experiences:
-Gift online classes
-Brookside Gardens experience
Give Back:
-Give the gift of life: donate blood
-Gift a meal
Christmas Trees:
-Set your Christmas tree at the curb by 7 a.m. on your recycling collection day
-Better to compost Christmas trees
Wrapping Paper, Tissue Paper, Boxes:
-Recyclable
Christmas Lights:
-Light strings accepted in the electronics recycling drop-off at the Shady Grove Processing Facility and Transfer Station.