Are you as sick of your Christmas tree as I am? Mine is half bare - I've been slowly packing up the ornaments bit by bit this week. The rest of it is going bye-bye tomorrow.
As you are dealing with the holiday aftermath, keep in mind that it doesn't all have to go in the trash. Consider recycling and repurposing whenever possible:
The Tree - Many municipalities take used Christmas trees and turn them into mulch. If you are lucky (like us!), your city will even pick it up for you. If you are not sure where to recycle your tree, check out Earth911 for info.
Christmas Cards - Instead of just tossing old cards (or saving them for eternity in a shoebox), give them another life as gift tags!! All you need is a scissors, a paper punch and a little creativity!
Leftover X-mas Candy - Crush up old candycanes and mix them into your favorite chocolate cookie recipe or sprinkle them on vanilla ice cream. And if you still have a ton of holiday goodies around - bring them to the office - you know they'll get eaten there!
Last year's calendar - My 2010 calendar was much too pretty to throw away, so I cut it up and made it into thank you cards!!
Gift wrap - Pack up any gift wrap and gift bags saved from holiday gifts to use for next year. The more you save, the less you have to buy next year!
My sister got really creative and made collages out of old gift wrap and cards on paper bags - and used that to wrap our gifts this year. Isn't this one pretty? I want to frame it!
Did you recycle any of your holiday supplies? Any more holiday recycling tips to share?
I love the calendar idea! I have always bought a engagement calendar that I used to keep track of my son's milestones and day-to-day life. But a few days ago, I discovered an app for the iPhone called Momento that is basically an electronic journal. It also allows you to import things you write on sites such as Facebook and Twitter. For my regular calendar, I started using the calendar on my Mac.
I always try to reduce first before I reuse or recycle.
Posted by: Cindy | January 09, 2011 at 09:00 PM
Hi Cindy - I agree, electronic calendars are the way to go! I use one too. We do still keep a paper calendar in the kitchen though - for family events and stuff. It's good for my kindergartener to look at a real calendar to help him learn about the days of the week, months etc.. Fortunately, my sister sent me a lovely calendar printed on recycled paper!
Posted by: Micaela | January 10, 2011 at 09:26 AM
I love this list! Retweeting it!
Posted by: Becki | December 29, 2012 at 12:24 PM
Thank you Becki!
Posted by: Micaela | December 30, 2012 at 02:15 PM