Shopping season is officially underway in Teton Valley as locals and visitors alike rummage for holiday presents, food to feed extended family, and winter sports gear. All this shopping adds up to increased waste: about 25 percent more than usual according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
To counter waste this holiday season, Teton Valley Community Recycling is currently hosting a free, self-serve gift wrapping station at the Geotourism Center located in the Driggs City Center. Drop off extra gift boxes, paper, and bubble wrap, or reuse the materials dropped off by others to cut down on holiday waste. We also are offering blank holiday cards, 2018 calendars, and tree ornaments this year. The wrapping station is located in the area that is open 24-hours a day. Thank you to Brian McDermott, Executive Director for TREC!
Contact Iris at tetonrecycling@gmail.com or 206-484-7354 and she’ll be happy to take your materials too!
Holiday Wrapping Tips and Tricks
- Use newspaper, kids’ art or other recycled paper to wrap your gifts. Most commercial packaging and wrapping paper cannot be recycled at the transfer station. Save bows, ribbons, and large pieces of wrapping paper for future gifts.
- Save bubble wrap for next year, donate it to a local artist, Peak Printing, save it for a Trashion outfit at next year’s Trash Bash, or pop the bubbles and recycle it with your plastic bags with RAD (NOTE: All these materials should be placed in the RAD Bin and stuffed into one or two plastic grocery bags and NOT separately intermingled with the rest of the plastic bottles. Combining these materials into plastic bags helps RAD to efficiently provide you with curbside service, assist Teton County, Wyoming bale this material, as well as make it much less likely for these materials to “escape” into the environment.)
- If new electronics were a part of your holiday, make sure you recycle your old electronics and batteries at the Transfer Station.
- Even your holiday tree is recyclable! Free drop off at the brush pile at the transfer station, where it will be made into wood chips. Remember to remove all lights and ornaments first! Real trees only, not artificial or trees with decorations still on. Those will be charged household rate.
- If you upgraded to more energy efficient LED lighting this year or have broken light strings, mail your old lights to Holiday LEDs or Christmas Light Source.
- Recycle these items at the Transfer Station: clean corrugated cardboard (remove all plastic and packing paper), mixed paper (newspaper, office paper, magazines; NO packing paper and NO gift wrap = trash!), clean #1 & #2 plastic bottles without lids, glass, clean aluminum and steel cans. Gray board is also accepted and baled to be used on site.
Did you know that Americans create 25 percent more waste between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and nearly double their waste right after Christmas? According to a study by the Center for a New American Dream, nine out of ten of us believe that the holidays should be about family and caring rather than “stuff,” yet we still plan on spending 11 percent more on holiday gifts this year than last year.
Start small and take one step at a time. Visit us at the Geotourism Center for your free wrapping paper and packaging today!
