‘Tis the season for trash

Holidays offer extra opportunities to reduce, reuse, recyle

Friday, Nov. 20, 2009

Department stores have Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving when stores are jammed with holiday shoppers.

The six trash convenience centers in St. Mary's County have their own surge in business during the holidays.

Mounds of wrappings, turkey carcasses, ham bones and other food remains, shipping materials, cardboard boxes, wine bottles, discarded cards and decorations are the waste products of the upcoming season of celebrations.

"The Christmas-New Year's holiday season is the busiest time of the year at the convenience centers," said Richard Tarr, solid waste manager for the St. Mary's County Department of Public Works and Transportation. "The day after Christmas is our busiest day of the year. The volume of traffic at all six of the convenience centers is two to two-and-a-half times what it would be on the busiest day of a normal week.

"So, the day after Christmas, we have to double-up staff at all those sites. That's how busy it is."

Tarr said he and others have figured that at the busiest convenience centers, there is a trash bag in mid-air every second on Dec. 26.

That leaves plenty of room for improvement for those who are looking to live a little more lightly on the earth and make environmentally friendly changes. Now — with the holidays still to come — is the time to make those kinds of choices.

Marta Kelsey of Hollywood is a member of the St. Mary's County Commission on the Environment, which makes recommendations to the board of county commissioners on environmental matters. "We're particularly interested in water quality and sustainable development," Kelsey said recently.

The commission, however, is also interested in encouraging greener habits in St. Mary's County residents.

Kelsey grew up in a small town in Ohio during World War II. The combination of the country just coming out of the Depression and the rationing during the war made holiday celebrations more restrained than they are now, she said. "I think it was reasonably [environmentally] friendly," she said. Gifts tended to be practical and there were far fewer of them. And "there weren't any outside lights."

The holidays were something to look forward to, she said, because there would be a big meal and a few special presents. It was a time for families to get together.

The number of things that seem to be required for a proper celebration have multiplied since her childhood, Kelsey said. "They're so much more commercial. Everyone is … just buy, buy, buy," she said.

It's a trend that Kelsey and others are fighting. "I have vowed that I'm not going to buy any more wrapping paper," she said. "It's made with all kinds of nasty inks and it just fills up the landfill."

Wrapping paper

Kelsey plans to sew reusable fabric gift bags instead of decorative wrapping paper. "I use yarn and try to reuse that," she said, instead of ribbon.

And when she receives a gift with a stick-on bow, she always saves it and reuses it.

"You can also use funny papers" as wrapping paper, she said.

Tarr noted that those who do purchase wrapping paper can look for paper that is made from recycled materials.

And when the gifts are all exchanged and the floor is littered with packing materials, tissue, wrapping paper and ribbons, set it all aside to be recycled, Tarr said. "They all can be recycled."

Tags and cards

Kelsey said that she recycles Christmas cards from previous years to use as gift tags. Some have turned to e-mailed Christmas cards for environmental reasons. It is a paperless and cheaper alternative to the traditional cards that many mail out.

However, Kelsey, for one, isn't willing to give up that tradition yet. "I don't know," she said with a sigh. "It's not as special somehow."

Christmas trees

For new Christmas tree lights, Kelsey recommends the LED lights (light-emitting diodes) that use about a tenth of the energy of traditional Christmas lights.

There's something to be said for both artificial trees and live trees, she said.

"The best thing to do is to get a potted tree that you can plant after the holiday," Kelsey said. However, some environmentalists say that the indoor environment is too drying for trees intended to be planted later and they would be best decorated and left outdoors.

A tree from a local tree farm helps the local economy and the tree can then be recycled after the holidays or dragged out in the woods to provide habitat for small animals. Ultimately, it will turn to compost, enriching the soil.

Tarr noted that Christmas trees are recycled for free at all six of the county's convenience center. "Starting Dec. 26, we accept Christmas trees free of charge through Jan. 31," he said.

Tarr's department then grinds those trees up and offers the mulch created back to the community, also for free.

Artificial trees can be used for a long time, Kelsey said, but "they never biodegrade. When you're through with the tree, it will be with us a long time. Think twice before you buy a new one."

Gifts

Tarr noted that in the "reduce, reuse, recycle" motto, the "reduce" part is the most important — just use less. Maybe people could just give fewer things.

"I try not to buy frivolous things," Kelsey said of her gift-buying, adding that even the toys she buys for her six grandchildren need to have an educational aspect before she purchases them.

To avoid waste, Kelsey also suggested giving gift cards as presents "so people are buying something they really want," she said. And there is little wrapping or packaging involved.

Electronic donations to a favorite charity can also be a good "green" gift, she said.

In addition, in the spirit of "reusing," people can purchase used items in good condition for a gift, Kelsey suggested. "There's so many things that are slightly used … and they don't come with the packaging, the plastic and stuff like that."

Sandy Neville, another member of the commission on the environment, noted that there are a variety of ways to look at greener gift giving. "I try to look at sustainable purchasing always, but don't always hit the mark," she wrote in an e-mail.

She suggested Green America as a good source for information about green purchasing ideas and guidelines.

Barne Wheeler, chair of the commission on the environment, offered a tip on consumption in general that can easily be applied to the holidays. "Buy only what you really need; buy in bulk where possible; recycle your clothes but don't replace what you donate; choose reusable products over disposable ones," he said.

scraton@somdnews.com

To learn more

The St. Mary's County Commission on the Environment has a list of suggestions for greener celebrating this holiday at www.greensomd.com, under "St. Mary's County Commission on the Environment" and then "Current Hot Topics."

More tips on celebrating greener are also available from the Sierra Club at www.sierraclub.org/holidays. A "Shop Green Holiday Gift Guide" is available at the Green America Web site at www.greenamericatoday.org.