From Christmas trees to leftover packaging: How to recycle your holiday trash
If your trash and recycling bins are already overflowing with cardboard boxes, glass bottles and debris from holiday celebrations, you're not alone. But instead of sending it all to the landfill, recycling experts say many of those items still have value.
Peggy Whitlow Ratcliffe, founder and executive director of Live Thrive, says tossing everything into the garbage is a missed opportunity.
"If we put all that in the landfill, that's very sad when there is a place absolutely to properly dispose," Ratcliffe said.
Live Thrive runs The Center for Hard to Recycle Materials, known as CHaRM, which accepts items that curbside programs cannot.
"We take all of those things that you can't put in your curbside bins," Whitlow Ratcliffe said.
Many post-holiday items don't belong in standard recycling bins, including:
Wrapping paper with glitter or foil
Old holiday lights and electrical cords
Foam packaging and Styrofoam
- Shipping envelopes with bubble wrap
Artificial Christmas trees
Cooking grease
Wine corks
Glass bottles
- Styrofoam food containers
At CHaRM, workers separate those materials so they can be repurposed instead of buried in landfills.
Whitlow Ratcliffe says Christmas lights, for example, are valuable because of the copper they contain.
"These lights actually have more value than regular lights, regular wire that you use," she said. "So, it's great for you to bring these because they have a lot of copper in them, which is a value that can always be recycled."
Artificial trees can also be recycled, even if they're pre-lit. "Once this comes off — this is usually not recyclable," Ratcliffe said, pointing to the green branches. "However, the frames are always recyclable."
Styrofoam is another priority for recycling because it doesn't break down in landfills. "If it goes to the landfill, it never biodegrade. Never," she said.
At CHaRM, the foam is compressed and prepared for reuse. "We have a machine that actually blows this up, compresses it, and it can be made into new insulation. So it can absolutely be recycled," she said of styrofoam blocks.
Live trees can be dropped off at CHaRM or at one of the more than 120 sites statewide that participate in Keep Georgia Beautiful's "Bring One for the Chipper" program. Some cities and Home Depot stores also collect trees.
Last year, the program collected more than 37,000 Christmas trees that became mulch for playgrounds, municipal projects and individual homes. More than 3,000 trees were sunk into lakes to create fish habitats.
Whitlow Ratcliffe says recycling more holiday waste benefits Georgia well beyond cleanup season.
"Unfortunately, Georgia has more landfills than any other state east of the Mississippi. We would like to flip that because we also were number two in the nation for remanufacturing recycled materials."
She says every tree, box or strand of lights kept out of landfills can in turn keep our water supply cleaner. "Imagine if you put food, waste diapers, this type of material, your laptop, your regular trash [ in the landfill]. What that creates is a methane gas. This just adds to it, which eventually leaches into the soil or into the water system. So, you want to make sure that you do this in a proper manner," said Whitlow Radcliffe of recycling electronics and Christmas decorations.
Recycling supports what she calls a circular economy. "There's a need for it. It really supports our economy," Ratcliffe said. "It's called a circular economy, and that's what recycling is."
Recycling advocates say clearing out your holiday clutter is a small step that can lead to a greener year ahead.
Resources for Holiday Recycling in Georgia
• CHaRM — The Center for Hard to Recycle Materials (Live Thrive, Atlanta)
A drop-off site that accepts items not allowed in curbside recycling, including Christmas lights, Styrofoam, artificial trees, cooking oil, glass, electronics and more.
https://livethrive.org/charm/items-we-accept/
• Bring One for the Chipper — Statewide Christmas Tree Recycling Program
Annual program through Keep Georgia Beautiful that turns live Christmas trees into mulch for playgrounds, city projects and fish habitats.
https://www.kgbf.org/bring-one-for-the-chipper
• Bring One for the Chipper — Tree Drop-Off Locations
A statewide searchable list of county and city drop-off sites (including many Home Depot stores) where you can take your live Christmas tree to be recycled.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ulXwjzlewLINwZW-BwjddefEDNrrhkDdCs1cEUiLQDo/edit?gid=999234097#gid=999234097
• Trees for Tuition — Tree Pickup & Recycling Service
A paid pickup service that recycles your live Christmas tree, with proceeds supporting tuition assistance for local students. Great option if you can't transport your tree.
https://treesfortuition.com/christmas-tree-recycling/