South Ayrshire Council News

South Ayrshire Council is urging people across South Ayrshire to become environmental angels by reducing the amount of waste they generate this Christmas.

Traditionally we generate more waste during the holiday season, around 30 million tonnes in Scotland alone, but there are lots of ways the public in South Ayrshire can Reduce, Reuse and Recycle to minimise the waste created during the festive season. People can play their part by reducing the amount of waste created in the first place, reusing things they would otherwise throw away and recycling as much waste as possible.

In a bid to encourage people across Scotland to have a waste aware Christmas, South Ayrshire Council has come up with the following 12 top tips:

• Avoid Christmas food and gifts with excess packaging, buy food, such as fruit and vegetables, loose and where packaging is necessary, try to buy types that can be recycled locally.
• Parties and Christmas dinners mean that we buy more food and generate more waste. Visit www.wasteawarelovefood.org.uk for top tips and recipes to help reduce your festive food waste.
• Use a compost bin or food waste digester to compost green waste, such as fruit and vegetable peelings, at home. Visit www.wasteawarescotland.org.uk/compost
  to buy a discounted bin.
• Send e-cards to friends and family instead of traditional paper cards. Personalise and send your cards at www.wasteawarescotland.org.uk which will help to reduce your spending as well as waste at Christmas.
• Refuse unnecessary plastic bags when you go shopping, or reuse your own bags.
• Choose reusable glasses, crockery and cutlery for parties, instead of disposable alternatives that generate more waste.
• Buy Christmas cards, gifts and wrapping made from recycled materials. Find out where you can get them at www.sort-it.org.uk.
• Find an unusual gift for someone by choosing to buy second hand books, CDs, computer games and DVDs from specialist and charity shops or online. You can also donate, exchange or sell any unwanted gifts after Christmas. Find local and national outlets at www.sort-it.org.uk.
• Use rechargeable batteries for any of your Christmas gifts that require batteries. These are widely available and good for frequently used items, such as children's toys. Find outlets that sell rechargeable batteries at www.sort-it.org.uk.
• 100 million Christmas cards could end up in our bins across Scotland this year . Recycle your Christmas cards with the Woodland Trust at branches of Marks & Spencer, Tesco, TK Maxx and WH Smith throughout January.
• 800,000 real Christmas trees will be bought in Scotland this year, most of which will be thrown away, creating an extra 16,000 tonnes of waste. In most areas, you can recycle your real Christmas tree using a local authority kerbside recycling service or recycling point. Find out how at www.sort-it.org.uk.
• Up to 75 million extra glass bottles and jars and 50 million drinks cans could be used in Scotland over the festive season. All those gifts also add up to lots more packaging and wrapping paper in your bin. Recycle any extra cans, cardboard, glass bottles and jars, and paper from your household this Christmas. Find your nearest recycling points at www.sort-it.org.uk.

Visit www.wasteawarescotland.org.uk for more tips on how you can have a Waste Aware Christmas.