• YO U R G U I D E TO R E C YC L I N G T H I S H O L I D AY S E A S O N •
HOLIDAY RECYCLING
The Gift That Keeps on Giving
Let Recycling Become You as you shop, entertain, and celebrate this holiday season.
Table of Contents
Gifts
Cards
Shopping
Entertaining
Wrapping and Packaging
Unwrapping
Electronics
Christmas Trees
Holiday Lights
Curbside Recycling
Drop off Recycling 2
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• H O L I D AY R E C YC L I N G : T H E G I F T T H AT K E E P S O N G I V I N G •
Gifts
• Avoid over-packaged gifts.
• Buy durable gifts with long-term warranties and avoid
disposables.
• Season tickets to theatre, sport teams and the symphony are
thoughtful gifts that give joy beyond the season and into the
New Year.
• Memberships to museums, zoo or nonprofit organizations are
perfect for families and no packaging required!
• Seniors and busy people appreciate a gift from the heart and
Give a gift to help
kitchen. Give a coupon good for a loaf of homemade bread,
soup or a dozen cookies.
someone help the
• Reusable lunch bags and food containers encourage healthier
environment:
eating for the New Year. Fill with non-perishable healthy snack
items to get your recipient started.
• Smart Plug Strips (energy-saving
• Think about refillable pens. Fountain pens are a must have for
power strip)
the serious writer or journal keeper.
• Rain barrels
• A family recipe book, printed on recycled paper, is a treasure.
• Compost bin
Wrap in an heirloom apron!
• Energy-saving fluorescent light
• Put together a collage of pictures commemorating a special
fixture or compact fluorescent bulb
event, vacation, etc.
that lasts longer than conventional
• A beloved old toy, tricycle, rocking chair, etc. repaired and
handed down to the next generation is priceless.
light bulbs
• Gift certificates from favorite stores (home improvement,
• Cloth napkins
garden, movie rentals, restaurants, etc.) assure your recipient
• Diaper service for new parents
purchases what they want or need.
eliminates disposable diapers
• Home-made gift certificates for baby-sitting, sewing,
• Cloth shopping bag
housecleaning or pulling weeds are a great idea!
• If you haven’t already, trim your gift-list by drawing names to
reduce the gift-wrap and boxes needed.
• Give rechargeable batteries along with your electronic gifts, and consider giving a battery
charger, too. Rechargeable batteries reduce the amount of potentially harmful materials thrown
away, and can save money in the long run.
Cards
• Make your cards from used wrapping paper, old cards and other items found around the home.
• Local friends and family can receive a giant edible cookie holiday card; put on a personal greeting
with icing.
• Email greetings.
• Update and pare down your card list. If we each sent one card less, we’d save 50,000 cubic
yards of paper.
• If you buy cards, purchase those that are printed on recycled content paper.
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• H O L I D AY R E C YC L I N G : T H E G I F T T H AT K E E P S O N G I V I N G •
Shopping
• Plan your trip to be fuel and time efficient.
• Bring your own shopping bags and consolidate
purchases into one bag.
• Close-the-Loop and buy recycled content.
Look for words “post-consumer” recycled content
when shopping. Post-consumer content means
the product is made from materials collected from
curbside and recycling drop-off sites. The higher the
percentage of post-consumer content in a product,
the more its purchase helps to “close the loop.”
Many beautiful and unique recycled content
gifts are available such as:
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•
•
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Writing paper and journals.
Fleece gloves and jackets from recycled plastics.
Picture frames.
Candle holders.
Glass jewelry and home accent pieces.
Buy Recycled Guide
Close-the-loop and check our online Buy Recycled Guide available
here. The guide also includes items to purchase throughout the
year. All gifts listed are made with recycled content and many are
available locally. Contact the Solid Waste Management Program at
314-615-8958 if you sell products made with recycled content and
would like to be included in the guide.
Skip the Mall!
•Shopping from home using the Internet or catalogs saves energy, gasoline and time.
• Don’t forget to recycle shopping catalogs and store inserts.
Or Buy Nothing at All!
http://www.buynothingchristmas.org/index.html
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• H O L I D AY R E C YC L I N G : T H E G I F T T H AT K E E P S O N G I V I N G •
Entertaining
Planning
Buying the right quantity for a holiday dinner can
cut down on both expenses and leftovers.
At the grocery store –
• Buy baking goods in bulk or large volumes.
• Buy only containers that can be recycled.
• Choose packages made with recycled content.
Preparing
While baking and preparing holiday goodies, remember that
with the exception of plastic bags, packages are recyclable,
such as:
• Canned goods
• Aluminum pie tins and baking pans (cleaned of food debris)
• Cardboard
• Cereal and cake mix boxes
• Glass jars and bottles
• Cartons (juice, broth, egg nog, etc.)
Serving
• Use the real stuff! If you don’t have enough dishes
for your crowd, borrow from friends and neighbors.
• Renting dishes and glasses may be affordable
compared to disposables.
• Invest in cloth napkins.
• Set up festive boxes for recycling beverage cans and
bottles.
• If you do use disposables, encourage reuse.
Office Party
• Invest in a party kit for the office that includes
reusable plates, cups and silverware.
• If you use a caterer ask them to provide “real” dishes
and tableware.
• For large parties, consider hiring full service event
greening service. St. Louis Earth Day is a local
not-for-profit that specializes in greening special events, including a DIY loan program.
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• H O L I D AY R E C YC L I N G : T H E G I F T T H AT K E E P S O N G I V I N G •
Wrapping and Packing
Gift Wrap and Ribbons
Think beyond rolls of gift-wrap and bags of bows and be creative
while reducing waste! Here are some ideas:
• Use scarves, handkerchiefs or bandanas - two gifts in one!
• Have a geography lover? Use an old map or travel poster.
• What grandparent doesn’t love kid’s art? Tape all those
coloring pages together and design a custom gift-wrap.
• Comics and newsprint are fun, and can go right into the recycle
bin after unwrapping. Visit a newsstand and buy a foreign paper
for the person traveling or studying a new language.
• Save brown Kraft paper shopping bags and turn them into gift-wrap. Sponged or printed with
color, these bags turn into beautiful and natural looking wrap.
• Scraps as wrapping! Wallpaper, fabric, magazines, sheet music all make clever gift-wrap.
• Rather than wrap the large presents, make it a scavenger hunt, with a series of clues to find the gift.
• Give a present wrapped or decorated with a present.
• Mittens in the matching scarf
• Dish towels for kitchen gifts
• A tie or scarf as a ribbon
• Hair bows, shoe laces or a jump rope to tie up a package
If you buy gift-wrap, try to purchase recycled content
Gift Boxes and Bags
• Decorate a shoebox and fill with art supplies.
• Gift bags are reusable. Save for next year!
• If you receive gift boxes, save and reuse them! When worn out,
then recycle.
• A present in a present:
• A pretty basket or wooden box
• Cookies in a cute tin
• A cake still in the nice new pan
Packing
Consider these alternatives to new
styrofoam and bubble-wrap:
• Biodegradable starch packing peanuts
• Reuse packing peanuts from previous gifts
• Crumpled ads from the newspaper
• Waste from your paper shredder
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• H O L I D AY R E C YC L I N G : T H E G I F T T H AT K E E P S O N G I V I N G •
Unwrapping
Hopefully you followed some of our reduce suggestions when it came to gifts and wrapping, but
now as the gifts are exchanged and unwrapped, it’s time to think reuse and recycle by planning
ahead with how you will manage all the paper, ribbons and bows:
• Save good large pieces of wrapping paper for reuse next year and for craft projects. Fold the
gift-wrap carefully and save in a shirt box.
• Though it is hard to think about the next Holiday Season, every box saved this year, is one less you
have to find for next year.
• Save bows, ribbons and tissue for reuse or to use in craft projects.
• Plan for recycling! All non-foil wrapping paper and gift boxes can
be recycled in your curbside bin or at drop-off locations listed on
page 9.
• Boxes that can no longer be reused should be broken down for
recycling to conserve space.
• Save packing peanuts and return to PakMail and UPS Stores.
(See page 9 for link to store locations)
If every family reused just two feet of holiday ribbon, the 38,000 miles of ribbon saved could tie a
bow around the entire planet.
Making Room for the New Stuff
Share your abundance by donating your good usable books, toys,
appliances and clothes to charitable organizations.
Before You Pull the Plug
• If you give or receive new electronics for the holidays, consider
donating working equipment to charity.
• Throwing old electronics away is not environmentally friendly.
Go to the e-cycle Missouri website at www.dnr.mo.gov for a
listing of registered collection locations for consumer
electronics.
• Recycle rechargeable batteries (commonly found in cordless
power tools, cellular and cordless phones, laptop computers,
digital cameras, two-way radios, camcorders and remote control
toys). The Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation (RBRC)
has set up collection bins at retailers such as Radio Shack, Target,
Home Depot and more. Visit www.call2recycle.org for more
information.
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• H O L I D AY R E C YC L I N G : T H E G I F T T H AT K E E P S O N G I V I N G •
Holiday Lights
Drop off your old or unworkable holiday lights to be
recycled at one of the 300+ designated locations around
the St. Louis and Illinois region. Visit www.StLouisGreen.com
for more details.
Christmas Trees
• Consider buying a potted Norfolk pine, fig tree or indoor houseplant that can be
used every holiday season as your tree.
• Purchase a tree from a tree farm rather than cutting one down in the wild.
• Use trimmed branches from your tree for decorating around the home or making
wreaths.
• Reuse a live tree for wildlife habitats if you own several acres:
- Place in a field for cover for small animals.
- Submerge the tree in a pond or small lake to create fish habitat. DO NOT DUMP
your tree into a ravine or along an eroding bank.
- Visit Missouri Department of Conservation website at www.mdc.mo.gov for
additional ideas to learn how old Christmas trees can benefit wildlife.
When you are ready to dispose of your cut tree and you don’t have yard waste collection, here are some commercial composting facilities that will recycle your tree
into compost or mulch in addition to other yard waste year round. Trees must be
free of all tinsel, ornaments, decorations, etc. Residents are encouraged to call and verify information provided below.
St. Louis Composting
Route 66 Landscape Supply Center
636-861-3344
636-271-3352
$1 per tree
18900 Franklin Road 63069
Mon.- Fri. 7:00am-4:30pm
Sat. 8:00am-3:00pm
$1 per tree 3 Locations
1. Valley Park
39 Old Elam Ave. 63088
(Elam Ave and Hwy 141)
Mon.- Fri. 7:00am-5:00pm
Fick Supply Service, Inc.
636-532-4978
501 N. Eatherton Road.
Wildwood, MO 63005
Mon.- Fri. 8:00am-4:00pm
2. Maryland Heights
11294 Schaeffer Rd. 63043
Mon.- Fri. 6:00am-4:00pm
Earth City Supply Yard
3. ORMI Fort Bellefontaine Compost
314-355-0052
13060 County Park Road 63034
(Hwy 367 and Lindbergh)
Mon.- Sat. 7:30am-4:30pm
314-581-3364
13607 Missouri Bottom Road.
Bridgeton, MO 63044
M - F, 7am-5pm
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Here’s
What
You Can
Recycle
Curbside!
RESIDENTIAL CONTAINERS
Soda, water,
mouthwash,
ketchup and salad
dressing bottles
Narrow neck
containers
Milk and juice jugs
Detergent, fabric
softener, shampoo and
cosmetic containers
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Steel and tin cans
Milk and juice
cartons, juice boxes
(even ones with
caps and lids)
Narrow neck
containers, health and
beauty aid products,
household cleaners
Squeezable
packaging and
grocery containers
Containers for yogurt,
cottage cheese,
margarine, etc.
Plastic buckets
(5-gallon size
maximum)
Clean aluminum
cans, foil, pie pans,
and food trays
Glass bottles and
jars of any color. No
window glass,
mirrors, dinnerware
or ceramics
NO plastic bags of any kind or styrofoam should be placed in your curbside cart.
RESIDENTIAL PAPER PRODUCTS
Newspaper,
including inserts
(remove plastic
sleeves)
Cardboard
Office, computer,
notebook, and gift
wrap paper
Kraft bags
(brown paper bags)
Carrier stock
(soda and beer can
carrying cases)
N OT E S
1. Please rinse containers.
2. Caps, lids, and labels are okay.
3. No containers for motor oil,
insecticide, herbicide, or
hazardous chemicals.
Chipboard
(cereal, cake and
food mix boxes,
gift boxes, etc.)
Paperback books
(no hardcover
books)
4. No plastic bags of any kind.
(Return shopping bags to the store.)
Magazines, catalogs,
and telephone
books
5. No Styrofoam™ or polystyrene.
6. No paper towels, tissues or wipes.
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Junk mail
and envelopes
(even with plastic
windows)
• H O L I D AY R E C YC L I N G : T H E G I F T T H AT K E E P S O N G I V I N G •
Recycling Locations
Recycling outlets for the holidays and all year round! (No foil wrap, ribbons or tissue accepted at any of these sites – Reuse for next year!)
No curbside recycling? Utilize a drop-off location listed below for cardboard, cans, jars, bottles, cartons, and plastic containers!
Earthbound Recycling
636-938-1188
25 Truitt Drive
Mon.-Sat. 9 a.m.– 5 p.m.
Also accept cell phones, rechargeable batteries, ink jet and
laser cartridges during business hours.
Eureka, MO 63025
Single-Stream bin open 24/7
www.earthboundrecycling.com
City of Kirkwood Francis Scheidegger
314-822-5828
Also accepts cell phones and textiles
Recycling Depository
Open 24 hours a day/ 7 days a week
350 S. Taylor Ave.
www.kirkwoodmo.org
Kirkwood, MO 63122
University City Recycling Center
314-505-8575
975 Pennsylvania Ave.
Mon.-Fri. 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. (daylight hours)
Also accepts cell phones, textiles, and electronics
St. Louis, MO 63130
www.ucitymo.org
Paper Only (no boxes or cardboard)
Abitibi Paper Retrievers
Find a location near you
Accepts non-foil wrapping paper, newspaper, shopping
Green and yellow Paper Retriever recycling
Note: Host sites may earn cash for paper collected!
catalogues, junk mail and magazines. No boxes or phone
www.paperretriever.com
books
Central Paper Stock
314- 521-8686
Accepts non-foil wrapping paper and any other paper
6665 Jonas Pl.
Green bin next to gate is open 24 hours a day/ 7 days a week
that is not brown (i.e. boxes, kraft paper). Also accepts
St. Louis, MO 63134
www.paperrecycler.com
hard cover books.
bins at schools and places of worship
(314) 521-8686
Packing Peanuts (no ribbons, wrapping paper or molded foam packaging)
Pak Mail, UPS accept for reuse
1-800-828-2214 for locations or visit EPS Industry Alliance
www.epspackaging.org to find the store nearest you
StyrofoamTM, polyethylene, or polypropylene foam packaging (foam packaging used for electronics)
EPC
4025 Lakefront Ct.
Earth City, MO 63045
www.epcusa.com
314-344-0096
NO food packaging or packing “peanuts”
Mon.-Fri. 8 a.m.- 2 p.m.
(Go to office for directions to drop-off container)
Textiles
There is no need to ever send clothes to a landfill! Charitable thrift stores welcome useable clothing in good condition. Textile drop-off
boxes listed below accept clothing for reuse and also stained and ripped clothes for recycling into new products such as cleaning rags
and fabric for door panels.
• Merchandise Pick-up Service – Hosts the yellow “barns” at schools and other non-profit organizations. For locations or to host a
container call 314- 416-8282.
• Remains, Inc – In addition to textiles, Remains accepts paired shoes. To locate a collection drive near you or to schedule a textile
recycling collection for your non-profit organization call 314-865-0303.
• USAgain – Collects shoes and clothes in conveniently-placed green and white bins hosted by schools, non-profits and local businesses.
To locate the nearest bin or to join a USAgain Fundraiser visit www.usagain.com or call 314-291-0046.
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