www.carmarthenshire.gov.uk


CARMARTHENSHIRE NEWS • EDITION 10 NOVEMBER - DECEMBER 2012 mas without all the waste


Here are some hints and tips from the council’s waste and recycling section


Green Gifts:


Reuse old jam jars to make candle-holders or for making homemade chutneys and pickles for presents.


Give a waste-free gift, for example, theatre/cinema tickets, a weekend away or a magazine subscription?


It doesn’t have to be new – what about vintage jewellery or pre-owned computer games? Give a charity gift or makea donation to a worthwhile cause


Festive food:


Plan before you shop – make sure you know who you’re catering for and what you’ll need for each recipe and write a list! Buy vegetables loose rather than packaged.


Keep foods with the closest use-by dates at the front of the fridge, so that you don’t end up throwing away perishable and expensive Christmas food.


Portion control –measure food out so you get the right portion per person thus avoiding excess food and waste. Freeze any leftover food to enjoy at a later date


Love your leftovers – use them to make another meal, for recipe ideas visit www.lovefoodhatewaste.com


If you are throwing a festive bash remember:


Avoid disposable plates and cups, borrow from friends and neighbours instead or hire in for large occasions


Make your own Christmas decorations, there are lots of attractive recycled paper and materials available from arts and crafts shops or save any nice patterned paper, catalogues or magazines you come across


You can also make your own table decorations – glass jars make great candle holders; some festive fruit can make an eye- catching centrepiece and use sweets, nuts or chocolates scattered on your table to create a lavish look


Finally, make sure visitors know where your recycling bins are and what goes in them!


And when Christmas is over:


Donate any unwanted gifts to charity, sell online or do a car boot sale! If you bought a real tree, make sure you take it to your nearest waste recycling centre so that it can be composted.


Don’t forget that you can recycle your Christmas cards in your blue bag or take them along to your local M&S store – for every 1,000 cards recycled one tree will be planted with the Woodland Trust.


Have a clear out and recycle your old electricals waste from fridges and televisions to hairdryers and mobile phones – anything with a plug or battery. Please take to your nearest waste recycling centre or for smaller items one of the 10 electricals banks throughout the county.


Don’t forget you can also recycle any any old batteries – most shops/supermarkets now provide battery banks in store or take to your nearest waste recycling centre.


Did you know?


• In the UK approximately 250 tonnes of Christmas trees that could have been recycled are simply thrown out. Please take along to your nearest household waste recycling centre so that it can be composted. If you take your Christmas tree to Trostre (Llanelli), Wernddu (Ammanford), Nantycaws (Carmarthen) or Whitland you will get a free bag of Merlin’s Magic Compost.


• An estimated 500 tonnes of Christmas tree lights are discarded in the UK over the Christmas period. If they are in good working order, you could think about donating them to charity. Even lights that are beyond repair can be recycled – for your nearest electrical recycling bank please visit www.recycleforcarmarthenshire.com /recyclingcentres or call 01267 234567.


• 13,350 tonnes of glass is thrown out in the UK during the festive season – from champagne and sherry bottles to mincemeat and cranberry sauce jars. Recycling all of them could save 4,200 tonnes of CO² equivalent being produced, which is equivalent to taking around 1300 cars off the road for one year or to not taking around 630 around the world flights.


For your nearest glass bank please visit www.recycleforcarmarthenshire.com/ recyclingcentres or call 01267 234567.


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