With Christmas only a few days away, a note from the City of Lethbridge when it comes to recycling.
The holiday season is the second-busiest when it comes to waste collected by the city.
Raquel Burston with the Lethbridge’s Waste & Recycling Department says wrapping paper is actually problematic as it can’t be put into your blue bin.
“The reason for that is because it’s a mixed material. It might not seem like that, it might seem like it’s just paper,” says Burston. “A lot of time Christmas wrap has a shine, sparkles, and all sorts of things. It might look like paper, but it really isn’t so it can’t be recycled.”
Burston recommends people use fabrics or reusable bags to wrap presents, instead of flashy and coloured paper, noting that will help reduce waste at this time of year.
In Lethbridge, the only options for those who use Christmas wrap are to save it and find a creative reuse or to simply put it in the garbage, however disposing of it in the trash doesn’t help in cutting down on waste.
In Calgary, that city allows recycling of Christmas wrapping paper, however Lethbridge’s system doesn’t allow for that.
Spring cleaning season is actually the heaviest for waste collection for the city throughout the year.
