By Samantha Hayes
The festive season produces a lot of extra rubbish, from wrapping paper to glass bottles and of course – unwanted presents.
But are we any good at disposing of the waste responsibly?
Not many of us have the same restraint as Jo Knight when we are opening our Christmas presents.
But for the zero waste campaigner; saving the wrapping for recycling or re-using later is important.
“Here is some Christmas paper that we'll have to cut around the odd little sign, but you can actually reuse that, now sometimes you run onto trouble where some of the paper is tin foil,” Ms Knight says.
Bins in Auckland brimming with Christmas paper suggest Kiwis are doing the right thing when it comes to recycling.
Of course, at this time of year, there is more recycling material like bottles and cardboard, but because so many people are out of town on holiday the total amount of rubbish remains about the same – for Auckland City that is about 1,050 tonnes per day.
Michael McQuillan from Environmental Services warns people not to put their bins out unless it is their collection day because it may alert thieves that the house is empty.
“A good tip I use is to actually put the refuse, especially if it's going to be a bit smelly, put it in the freezer. Fantastic idea,” Mr McQuillan says.
But for Ms Knight, the best solution is to avoid creating rubbish at Christmas altogether.
“If what you've given has become waste two or three days later, wouldn't it be better to give somebody an experience, or just a bloody big hug?”
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