Make it a Green Christmas

With huge dinners on the menu, thousands of Christmas cards sent each year and masses of jars and bottles emptied, now is the time to really start thinking about what's thrown away over the festive period.

The next few days are thought to result in three million tonnes of waste, Britons use an extra 750 million bottles and glass containers and 500 million drinks cans and send one billion Christmas cards.

But this year Telford & Wrekin Council is urging people to make 2008 a year to really cut down on what goes into your bins.

Here are some top tips to help you have a green Christmas this year.

• Buy your fruit and vegetables without packaging.
• When doing your Christmas shop, reuse old plastic bags or bags for life rather than taking more new ones.
• Buy your soft drinks in bigger bottles - one large bottle creates less waste than lots of little ones.
• Put your Christmas dinner vegetable peelings into your home compost bin if you have one.
• Use gift bags or boxes instead of wrapping paper which isn't recyclable.
• Buy rechargeable batteries for your children's new toys and electrical gadgets - for every 500 charges, you will save 499 batteries being thrown away
• Recycle your Christmas cards and use them as gift tags next year. Or remember to put them in your recycling box.
• Make a New Year's resolution to recycle more!

And don't forget Christmas and New Year recycling and rubbish collections will change slightly over the festive season.

Households should check details on their grey wheelie bin, which will have all the information needed. For more information contact the Council's Environmental Maintenance team on 01952 384384.