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Holiday period
Celebrate responsibly
When guests come over for a Holiday party, buy family-size packages instead of single-servings to minimize packaging. For gift giving, buy colourful gift wrap made with recycled fibres, or gift wrap and bags that don’t have a metallic or plastic film, as these are more easily recycled. The most creative among you can make stunning homemade wrap using decorated or painted paper cuttings or newspaper. Virtual Holiday greeting cards are also a good option. Finally, don’t waste all that delicious leftover food. Pack some in margarine or yogourt containers for friends and family to take home.
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Moving day
Boxes galore
Moving day is the perfect time to reuse cardboard boxes. Some stores are pleased to give you their used boxes to pack your belongings for the big move. Empty jars are great for organizing screws, nails and other small items, while circulars and newspapers provide protection for fragile pieces. Once your moving boxes are piled high in your new home at the end of the day, don’t forget that the box from your pizza dinner can be recycled, provided that you’ve removed the leftover crust, of course!
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Spring cleaning
For a greener spring
Take out your brooms, dust cloths and cleaning rags: It’s time to get to work! Why not be eco-responsible as well? Newspaper, for example, does an amazingly good job on windows, and old shoe boxes are great for organizing papers and all kinds of accessories. If you run out of cleaning products, buy a product refill instead of a new spray bottle.
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On vacation
Little outings and big trips
Regardless of your destination, you can be eco-responsible even when you’re taking in the sights. When camping, get packaged products that will hold up well in your picnic cooler, like vacuum-packed meat packaging and reclosable milk containers. It’s also the ideal time to reuse empty plastic containers to preserve leftovers and prepared vegetables. Don’t forget your refillable water bottle! Continue your good recycling habits, even when away from home, by placing recyclable materials in publicly available bins.
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Halloween
Sweet recycling ideas
Although Halloween is a good excuse for a candy party, it’s also an opportunity to make eco-responsible choices. Instead of buying costumes and decorations every year, store them and use them again several times, or make new ones using recovered packaging and products. When the ghouls and witches come to your door, avoid using individual goody bags. That will reduce excess packaging that may or may not end up in the recyling bin.
Buy
At the store, choose products with eco-responsible packaging. Don’t forget to bring your reusable shopping bags! Be sure to clean the bags from time to time and avoid buying too many of them, as their production consumes significant resources and energy. If you’ve forgotten them home, plastic bags provided at the cash register may be later reused to collect kitchen waste or animal excrement, or bagged together and placed in the recycling bin.
Use
If you know you can use up all the product, choose larger sizes instead of single-serving containers. That way, you will reduce the quantity of packaging placed in the recycling bin. In some cases like yogurt, the larger size container is recyclable, while the single-serving is not necessarily so.
Of course, it’s always better to buy a smaller size that meets your needs if the extra product in a large one will end up as waste. You may also consider freezing that extra product to extend its life.
A second life
Many items you use every day are made with recycled materials. The containers, packaging and printed matter you place in your recycling bin are collected, sorted and processed by materials recyclers. Manufacturers then use the “new” materials to make other packaging, printed matter and sometimes whole new products such as clothing, furniture or construction materials.
Did you know that companies finance materials recovery?
In Quebec, companies who market containers, packaging and printed matter (which Quebecers eventually place in their recycling bins) finance the municipal services that collect recyclable materials from homes and public places.