The Garden City Telegram
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Holiday waste doesn't have to end up in the landfill
Published 12/1/2007 in News : Area coverage By Lisa Lucero
Those anticipated presents that soon will be piled high and wide around Christmas trees later become piles high and wide of empty boxes and giant wads of wrapping paper, ribbons and bows.
Director of Public Works Sam Curran said Garden City does have more trash during the holidays because of packages, cards and wrapping paper. Because the Solid Waste Department shuts down on Christmas, it takes the department longer to pick up trash.
Curran said people should have their trash out the day after Christmas so the department can start picking up holiday trash as soon as possible. The department also is closed on Saturdays and Sundays, adding further delays in Christmas trash collections.
"We run as fast as we can to catch things up," Curran said.
But it doesn't have to be that way, Linda Burke, office manager of Wessel Iron & Supply Inc., said.
Burke said recycling and using recycled and recyclable materials during the holidays is important because people need to conserve resources.
"We need to cut down on what we are using and stop dumping it in the landfill," she said.
There are ways to avoid throwing away excessive amounts of trash.
Target sells Greenroom Eco paper products that are made out of recycled and sustainable material that are found in the greeting card section. Green Eco has a line of Christmas cards, gift bags and wrapping paper. The cards are made out of 65 percent of recycled material and wood from a sustainable forest.
The wrapping paper and smaller gift bags are made out of 50 percent post-consumer fiber and are printed with nontoxic soy-based ink. The larger gift bags contain 50 percent post-consumer waste and wood from sustainable forest.
Another recycled product that can be found is at The Family Bookhouse, 519 N. Main St., which sells Lang Christmas Cards that contain 50 percent recycled material and 30 percent post-consumer fiber.
Christmas cards also can be recycled.
Shoppers can look at the back of greeting cards to see if there is a recyclable logo on the bottom. Old Christmas cards can be recycled at Dodge City Community Recycling Environmental Waste (CREW), 716 E. Military, Dodge City.
Eastside Iron, Inc., 1102 E. Fulton St., recycles aluminum, lead acid batteries, copper, and brass, said Bob Zimmerman, president of the business.
If one wants to recycle ornaments that are made out of copper, brass or aluminum they can drop off their clean ornaments there.
Pam Peters of Dodge City CREW said they recycle all cards and corrugated cardboard boxes that are flattened. They don't accept gift boxes, such as shirt boxes.
After preparing the Christmas dinner, most of the food and beverage glasses and bottles that are leftover may be recycled at Dodge City CREW.
The containers should be rinsed and all lids and rings should be removed. The color of glass should be clear, green or brown.
Some shoppers try to keep their Christmas cards, donate them or have them recycled.
Syracuse's Cardy York is one of the shoppers who likes to keep her Christmas cards.
"When I moved from Wisconsin, I gave some of my old cards to a friend who used them at a preschool so they can make decorations with them," York said Thursday while shopping at Target.
Linda Housman of Jetmore said she throws some of her old Christmas cards and wrapping paper away, though she said her mother would fold her used Christmas wrapping paper and reuse it the next year.
Housman said she occasionally gives her cards to someone else, so they can use them for decorations.
She said Americans don't recycle enough.
"It's good for all of us to do that. We should do more of it," Housman said.
For more information regarding the Solid Waste Department in Garden City, call Public Works at 276-1260.
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