How to Recycle Your Christmas

'Tis the weekend to take down the tree and pack away all that Christmas clutter - but it's also the perfect chance to go green with your decorations and ornaments.

Green living expert and author of "Simply Green Giving" Danny Seo stopped by "The Early Show Saturday Edition" to share some holiday recycling tips that not only help the environment, but also cut costs.

There are simple, resourceful and easy ways to pack up all the holiday decorations, recycle unwanted gift wrap and bows, recycle holiday string lights, reuse delicious holiday candles and much more using everyday items you can repurpose and reuse.

How to store your holiday wreath:

Many people have artificial wreaths and need to store them after the holiday season. Since an artificial wreath can get dusty very quickly and can be hard to clean, it's important to cover them with plastic to keep them protected.

Recycle a dry cleaning plastic bag and hanger into a quick and easy storage solution: hang the wreath on the hanger, wrap it in the existing plastic, tie a knot and hang on the back of a door or in a hallway closet.

How to save or recycle holiday candles:

Holiday candles can look out of place after Christmas, especially if they are emblazoned with scenes of "Rudolph" and Christmas trees. To save them for next year, use a ripped nylon hosiery to protect them and pack them in a box with tissue paper.

If you enjoy the scent of a holiday candle, but not the look, you can also chip them up with a hammer and fill a tea strainer ball with the fragrant wax. Leave the strainer balls in your dresser drawers or hang it in the closet as an instant room fragrance freshener.

How to reuse your holiday lights:

If you invested in energy efficient LED string lights, why not recycle your Christmas lights into a mini Time Square lit-up ball? Just plug the LED string lights together and wrap them into a tight ball and hang from the ceiling. Because LED lights do not get hot, they are safe to wrap onto themselves over and over. Plus, since LED lights do not have glass bulbs, they will not shatter if tightly wrapped, too.

If you want to store your holiday lights, recycle an empty coffee can into a storage solution by wrapping the lights on the outside of the coffee can; place extension cords inside the can so they are all handy and accessible for next year.

How to recycle bows:

Holiday bows are one of the easiest gift wrapping materials to recycle. Just remove the box and add a piece of removable poster tape to the bottom of the bow. The next time you're wrapping a gift, just remove the waxy strip and you've got a brand new bow ready to go.

How to store ornaments, using recycled cups:

Save paper coffee cups from friends, co-workers, your own when you forget your reusable thermos and rinse them out to use as protective ornament holders.

Place fragile ornaments inside and cap with the plastic lid; wrap the cardboard sleeve around larger, less-delicate ornaments as a protective sleeve, too. You can also recycle cardboard and polystyrene egg cartons into ornament holders; place smaller ornaments in each compartment, close and secure tight with a rubber band.

For more on Danny Seo, visit his Web site, DannySeo.com.