Waste less and celebrate more in Royal Greenwich this Christmas
Make your Christmas a greener one by reducing waste, reusing materials and recycling as much as possible. With a bit of savvy spending and sensible separating, your rubbish could find a new life in the New Year.
Councillor Jackie Smith, Cabinet Member for Inclusive Economy, Business, Greenwich Supports and Environmental Services, said: “From wrapping paper and packaging to leftover food and unwanted gifts, we all produce more waste than usual during the festive season. The good news is that by making small, mindful choices about what we buy, wrap and throw away, we can all make a big difference for our environment. Remember your bin collection days may change over the festive period – check our website for revised dates. We’ll also be collecting real Christmas trees for recycling from Monday 6 January.”
Make your Christmas a greener one by following our simple tips.
- Reuse gift bags and wrapping paper and avoid unnecessary packaging like gift boxes.
- Make a list and check it twice - only buy food that you need.
- Stay off the naughty list - lithium batteries are a fire risk in all bins. Please take them to a battery point in your local supermarket or our reuse and recycle centre.
- Be a glitter quitter - wrapping paper and cards that have glitter or metallic finishes can’t be recycled, so find plastic free versions instead and make sure anything glittery goes in your black top bin.
- Twelve days of turkey - turn your Christmas leftovers into something yummy.
- A Christmas win for your blue bin - glass bottles, cans, aerosols, cardboard and clean foil are all easy to recycle.
- Donate what you don’t need, from decorations to household items and unwanted gifts.
- Recycle your Christmas tree - from Monday 6 January, we'll take your real Christmas trees as part of the green top bin service. Just remove all decorations, take it out of the stand or pot and place your tree next to your bin.
Your bin collection days will change over the festive period. We’ll share updates on our social media and WhatsApp channel if we’re running behind in your area.
Check your collection dates at royalgreenwich.gov.uk/bank-holiday-collections