By Amy Oprean, Elizabeth Swanson and Sarah Harbison
The State News
A gift doesn't seem complete sometimes without the proper trimmings — red paper, green bow and smiling reindeer repeating in regular intervals across the box.
But all the greeting cards, wrapping paper, bows and tissue paper used during the holidays add up to a less-than-cheery problem — confronting the excessive amount of trash.
Americans throw away 25 percent more trash from Thanksgiving to New Year's Day than they do the rest of the year, according to The Use Less Stuff Report's Web site, an online newsletter aimed at conserving resources and reducing waste. The waste adds up to an additional 1 million tons more garbage per week that is dumped in landfills, according to www.use-less-stuff.com.
Michigan Department of Environmental Quality spokesman Robert McCann said the holiday season is no reason to avoid being eco-friendly and waste-conscious."Every little bit that we can take out of the waste stream helps the vita landfill space," he said.
Seventeen years of remaining capacity is left in Michigan landfill space, McCann said.
"The reality is the amount of waste that we're generating is increasing from within the state and from other states and Canada," McCann said. "To build a new landfill is a long process that takes many years to do. … We encourage people to find ways to reduce the waste they generate, specifically at the holidays."
No-preference freshman Emma Distel was surprised at the amount of packaging that gets wasted in the United States during the holiday season.
"I'm sure the statistics are correct — America is ridiculous and wastes a lot," she said.
Reducing waste
During a contest with friends to see who could get the most use out of a single cut of wrapping paper, Aileen Gow discovered its life span lasted a few years.
Though the festive paper acquired a little wear and tear, it still served its purpose of covering presents.
There are plenty of ways to reduce the garbage that accumulates from the holiday festivities without losing the holiday spirit.
Use reusable gift bags or wrap gifts with newspapers; reuse bows and ribbons
Gow, executive director of East Lansing environmental organization Urban Options, recommends decorating gifts with materials already available in the home or nature, such as pine cones and twigs of cedar.
Nancy Hawkins, executive director of the Michigan Recycling Coalition, encourages wrapping presents in self-decorated brown paper bags.
"I've seen this quite a bit with children," Hawkins said. "Have them paint brown paper bags as part of an art project. Another way to limit waste is making the wrapping part of the gift — like if you're giving a person a bathrobe and a book, put the book in the bathrobe."
Use disposable cups and plates during holiday parties
Labels can be placed on cups so partygoers don't accumulate more than one. Avoid paper waste altogether by serving meals on china or stoneware dishes, Hawkins said. Or, Gow said you can bring your own mug to avoid the perpetual lost-cup phenomenon.
Be smart while holiday shopping
"If you go into any bookstore, like Barnes and Noble, and look at boxes of Christmas cards, a lot of those are made with recycled paper," Hawkins said. "It's being an aware consumer. When purchasing things, make that effort to look for the recycled symbol to let you know that material has recycled content in it."
Use light-emitting diodes
Gow said LEDs use less energy and last longer than regular lights when decorating houses and trees. She said they're safer, as well, because they don't overheat.
Recycle Christmas trees
The city of East Lansing will collect trees from the curb on Jan. 8 and Jan. 22. By dropping off trees at designated locations, they also can be recycled as wood chip mulch in the city's parks.
Christmas trees even can be replanted — if you buy live trees. Live trees usually come in pots of dirt and are typically 4 feet tall, Hawkins said. After the holidays, store these trees in garages so they don't get shocked by the cold weather. In the spring, they can be replanted in backyards.
"My friend has been doing it for more than 10 years, and my family has been doing it for a number of years also," Hawkins said. "It's a little more expensive, but it's neat because you're planting a memory, too."
But despite environmental disadvantages, packaging does have several important functions.
People might use too much packaging when they are sending gifts because they don't know how much is enough.
"Reducing packaging is difficult because people don't have access to the information to know exactly how much is OK and how much isn't," said Susan Selke, a professor in the School of Packaging.
But when it comes to packaging merely for holiday cheer, Selke said, the bows, wrapping paper and tissue paper of the holiday season can be wasteful.
"In principle, I agree there are certain environmental, as well as monetary disadvantages, to using packaging that doesn't fulfill a need," she said.
"Certainly in the realm of gift packaging, you will find creative suggestions. It's a good idea for anyone who wants to preserve the spirit of gift-giving and reduce environmental impact."
