The period between Thanksgiving Day and New Year's Day is the most wasteful period of the year. Americans generate 25 million tons of trash or an extra one million tons per week. If every family reduced its weekly waste generation during the holidays by only one pound, the total trash eliminated would be an astounding 500 million pounds.

During this holiday season trash may not be a big item on your personal agenda. This may be an item that you don't really want to think about and is probably an item that you will not think about. But you, as a consumer, are the reason for the excessive waste that will create additional cost for taxpayers during this holiday season.

There are many things you can do to help reduce the amount of waste that is generated during the next 10 days. Some of these things can be done with little or no effort, and if you will do them, they may make you feel as good inside as giving a Christmas present to someone.

Most likely you will be doing some clean-up work around the house during the holidays. Not so much that you need to clean up as much as you need to make room for more stuff. Consider donating partially used cans of paint and any building repair items to those agencies that do house repair projects for needy families such as the Robeson County Church and Community Center.

If your children have outgrown some of their toys or have toys they no longer use, give them to families with similar-aged children. If you don't know any suitable families, contact our office, the Department of Social Services, the Health Department, or the Church and Community Center. Or you could just ask your friends at work or church to recommend a family that can use them.

If you are using a live Christmas tree, don't just throw it beside the street when Christmas is over. If you can't find a place to have it mulched so you can use the mulch around your flowers, place the tree in your backyard as a perfect feeding site for birds. Not only will the birds enjoy perching in the branches, they will enjoy the suet, fruits, and other items you can hang in the branches. Unless you have a very small backyard, consider developing an area in the corner for a compost bed. You can use your Christmas tree and leftover Christmas plants to start your compost bed, and then add to it in the spring when you start working with your lawn, garden, and flowers. Contact our office if you need more information about composting.

Reuse holiday wrapping paper and bows instead of buying new materials. Try wrapping gifts in newspaper comics or reusable drawstring bags. When you go shopping, take your own shopping bags. In Robeson County, one less grocery bag per person per week would save almost 50 thousand pounds of waste per year and would save $20,000 of taxpayer money in disposal costs. When you shop, ask the stores to offer rebates for customers who bring their own bags.

Do you receive a lot of advertising materials in your mailbox that you do not want? If so, call the catalog's toll-free number on its order form. To have your name removed from mailing lists, contact Mail Preference Service, P.O. Box 9008, Farmington, NY 11735.

What do you do with all those Christmas presents that you really did not want? Your friends probably received a lot of them as well. Consider hosting a "white elephant" party at your home or at your office. Ask your friends to bring all the holiday gifts they don't want. Remember, "one person's trash is another person's treasure." If there are items left over, donate them to one of the local thrift stores.

I am sure you can think of many other ways to reduce the amount of "stuff" you might generate during the holiday season. If you do, share your ideas with your friends and neighbors. It's more fun that way. Whatever you do will save tax dollars and will be a great benefit to our environment.

Have a Merry Christmas and an enjoyable Holiday Season.

E-mail address: Everett_Davis@ncsu.edu

Mailing Address:
P. O. Box 2280
Lumberton, NC 28359-2280

Phone: 910-671-3276
Fax: 910-671-6278

Date Created 12/28/01