I cannot even begin to imagine the amount of trash that is generated on Christmas day. As a rule we are pretty good about reducing, reusing and recycling but Christmas comes and all our good intentions fly right out the window.
Every Christmas I try to reduce the amount of trash, not only to save the planet but to save money and the amount of time it takes me to clean up after such a crazy day. I always save gift boxes from year to year, I never buy gift tags, there is always plenty of paper around the house to make those from, I also forgo bows and ribbon, just one more thing to pick up and throw away. Still the trash piles up.
My sister and I went to see our great nephew on Christmas Eve, he is nine months old, we had each gotten him two learning toys. Everything is in a nice neat box, until you try to open it. The amount of cardboard, paper, plastic and plastic coated metal twist ties that came out of those four small presents amounted to a bigger pile than the actual gifts. If you recycle this can be a nightmare on Christmas morning.
It’s hard to make your kids stop in the middle of unwrapping presents and sort the trash for recycling so the best thing to do is be prepared. Try to have at least three trash bags, one for paper, one for plastic and one for trash. As the kids are unwrapping start sorting the debris into the appropriate containers, this will get some of it out of the way before you start opening the actual packages with all the cardboard and plastic in those.
I know some people wrap all the stocking stuffers as well, as far as I’m concerned this is a waste of time and paper, let the stuff spill out of the stockings unwrapped. One of the best things I invested in were strong cardboard boxes decorated for Christmas. They come in assorted sizes and shapes and nestle inside each other since they don’t fold up. I reuse these every year. They look nice under the tree and don’t get thrown away. We have some of those boxes that we’ve had for ten years. Look for them at the after Christmas clearance sales. Also, skip the tissue paper, at least for the kids, they don’t care and it’s one less thing to throw away.