The holidays are a magical time to connect with loved ones, but they also bring about an unintended consequence—increased waste. At AVAY, we’re all about making a difference, and we want to share some easy ways to keep your celebrations festive and planet-friendly.
1. Smart Shopping and Waste Reduction
Plan your shopping carefully. Choose items with minimal packaging, and focus on quality over quantity. For tech gifts, consider refurbished electronics—they’re affordable, high-quality, and kinder to the environment.
AVAY Insight: Did you know the average American generates 25% more waste during the holidays? That’s an extra 1 million tons of trash weekly between Thanksgiving and New Year’s.
Weird News: Shoppers at an Atlanta, Texas Walmart went wild over discounted towels in the 2011 Black Friday. With scenes resembling a zombie apocalypse, people dove into crates, tearing through the fabric like their lives depended on it. The frenzy highlighted just how far people will go for a sale, even if it’s just for a towel.
2. Donate Before You Toss
Before discarding old decorations or broken lights, consider donating items in good condition. If they’ve seen their last season, bring them to AVAY’s e-waste recycling drop-off center for proper disposal.
Fun Fact: Recycling just one ton of holiday lights saves enough energy to power 100 homes for a day!
Weird News: In 2018, a family in South Africa found a venomous boomslang snake in their Christmas tree! The snake had likely hidden inside the tree before it was brought indoors. Thankfully, animal control safely removed the unexpected holiday guest, but it definitely made for a wild (and unforgettable) Christmas!
3. Get Creative with Food
Use meal planners to avoid overbuying, and repurpose leftovers into exciting dishes. At AVAY, we love seeing how our community turns holiday meals into culinary art.
Sustainability Alert: About 40% of food purchased during the holidays ends up in the trash.
Funny story: Uncle Bob Lends a Hand. I spent my first Thanksgiving with my husband in his Irish-Italian neighborhood in New York City. As a newcomer, I was responsible for boiling 15 pounds of potatoes. When they were ready, I picked up the pan and surveyed the crowded kitchen for a sink in which to drain them. My husband’s elderly uncle Bob guided me to a small half-bathroom and grabbed the steaming pot. He started to drain the potatoes into the toilet, but he lost his grip on the lid and all the potatoes tumbled in! I screamed, “Oh no!” but Uncle Bob began fishing the potatoes out of the toilet. “No one will ever know,” he whispered. “Now just go out there and mash them.”
Sometime later, during the meal, my husband’s Aunt Tot leaned over and whispered, “Your potatoes are delicious. I think you are going to fit into this family quite nicely."
— Robin McCutchan in Oxford, Ohio
4. Dispose of the Unusual
Have leftover cooking oil from your fried turkey? Don’t pour it down the drain! Bring it to AVAY in a sealed container for safe disposal.
Interesting Tidbit: Recycling one gallon of cooking oil produces enough biodiesel to drive a car 20 miles.
Weird News: A Texas nonprofit converted holiday cooking oil donations into biodiesel to power their delivery vans, distributing over 1,000 meals to those in need during the holiday season.
5. Recycle Right with AVAY
Holiday packaging can pile up quickly. Recycle cardboard boxes, drop off e-waste, and even bring in those clear plastic clamshells—they’re now recyclable at AVAY!
Packaging Perspective: Americans generate an additional 5 million tons of waste during the holidays.
Interesting story: In 1917, Rollie and Joyce Hall, who would later establish Hallmark, faced a shortage of their red, green, and white tissue paper at their Kansas City stationery store. In a quick-thinking move, Rollie substituted colorful French envelope liners, which became an instant hit, selling for 10 cents a sheet. By 1919, the brothers began designing and manufacturing their own gift wrap, revolutionizing holiday gift presentation. Over the decades, Hallmark expanded into ribbons, bows, and even instructional films, shaping gift wrapping into a nearly $3 billion industry in the U.S. today.
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From all of us at AVAY, thank you for choosing sustainability and making the world a brighter place this season.
🎄♻️ Happy Holidays!
Got a unique eco-friendly holiday tip or story? Share it with us!
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