Make Your Holidays Environmentally Friendly

From the City of Tampa...

Start a new family tradition - have an environmentally friendly holiday and be environmentally responsible throughout the holiday season and the coming year. It’s easy! Just follow the helpful tips below, and this holiday season will mark a wonderful start to a brighter, cleaner future for us all.

Gift-Giving Tips
• Buy holiday cards printed on recycled paper.
• Save wrapping paper and ribbons for reuse.
• Use a reusable shopping bag when shopping for your holiday purchases.
• Avoid over-packaged items.
• Choose gifts with extended life expectancy.
• Use old newspaper as packaging material.
• Telephone your relatives and friends instead of sending cards.
• Wrap gifts in recycled wrapping paper or newspaper comics.
• Place all small gifts directly in stockings, instead of wrapping.
• Donate good used toys and games to your favorite charity.

Entertaining Tips
• Use reusable cups, glasses, plates and utensils.
• Use cloth napkins and table cloths instead of disposables.
• Purchase party products in recycled and recyclable containers.

Holiday Tips
• Encourage guests to bring food in their favorite dishes instead of disposables.
• Make your own invitations from scrap or recycled paper.
• Use old T-shirts for cleaning and dusting cloths.

Cooking Tips
• Reuse aluminum cooking trays; do not use disposable ones.
• Buy only as much food as needed; food wastes are more of our household waste than aluminum cans, plastic bottles and glass combined.
• Freeze leftovers for meals.

Decorating Tips
• Buy an artificial tree instead of buying a “live” tree each year. They make artificial trees that look incredibly natural.
• Make planting a tree part of your holiday tradition.
• Avoid all one-time use decorations such as spray snow and window stickers.

For more information on waste reduction and recycling, please visit our web site at www.tampagov.net/solidwaste or call (813) 348 -1111.