Tips for treating yourself to a sustainable Christmas

Christmas always retains its charm intact: a table laden with all sorts of good things, a festively decorated tree and, at its feet, a sack of well-wrapped gifts in their shiny wrapping paper and properly decorated with bows. All beautiful, but for the party to be complete it is also necessary to think about the amount of waste to be disposed of: better still, to be recycled. Like every year, Italy expects an increase in packaging in the differentiated collection of urban waste during the holidays.

According to the first projections of CONAIthe National Packaging Consortiumthe month of December 2022 will also close with percentage increases in packaging waste, especially for three materials: paper and cardboard, plastic and glass. As for paper and cardboard, especially boxes and sheets; for plastics, films and wrappers; as for glass, on the other hand, we are talking above all about bottles, given as gifts or consumed at lunches and toasts. For plastic and glass, the increases in separate collection should fluctuate between 6% and 10%. For paper, however, it is estimated that locally the increase could even exceed 10%. An important but manageable increase in packaging waste thanks to separate collection, therefore: the important thing will be to correctly separate the packaging being collected and avoid making mistakes. So here it is some advice from CONAI:

In glass collection, crystal glasses must not be thrown away: if they break, they must be thrown in the unsorted bin. Crystal contains lead: even a few fragments of it can compromise large quantities of recyclable glass. The presence of crystal objects in the separate collection of glass packaging must be avoided, as well as balls and Christmas tree decorations. Also avoid ceramics and borosilicate glass, i.e. that of dishes suitable for cooking in the oven: they should never be conferred with glass.

Beware of paper collection: the receipts that you don’t want to keep must be thrown away in the undifferentiated waste. It is in fact chemical paper, not recyclable. Other false friends are wax paper and parchment paper, which cannot be bestowed with paper. Used handkerchiefs and napkins go in the unsorted bin.

With regard to the plastic, always empty the packages before throwing them away and remember that the bottles must be crushed along the long side, and not from top to bottom. Let’s also remember to differentiate only the packaging with plastic: broken toys or other objects must be taken to the ecological island or conferred with the undifferentiated.

Be careful not to throw the wood in unsorted waste collection: it must always be taken to the platform. With regard to the metals, trays and cans that are greasy or dirty: it is not necessary to wash them, it is sufficient to empty them of any residual content. The metal caps must be removed from the glass bottles and jars and conferred with the metals. It is advisable to roll up the lighter types of packaging, such as aluminum foil.

There is still a long way to go, but taking the first step towards a better world on Christmas day is perhaps one of the best gifts we can give ourselves.