Be A Holiday Pack Rat: The Green Way
December 26, 2012
Now that Christmas is officially over, many of you will start packing away all of your holiday décor. Whether you are the day-after-Christmas-packer or the new-year-packer, try adopting some of these tips for keeping your holiday items safe and packed in an eco-friendly manner.
Reusing holiday decorations is eco-friendly in itself, but if the items are damaged or destroyed you won’t be able to reuse them. Therefore, you want to ensure items are packed safely for next year. There are a number of ways to do this without producing waste or purchasing new storage containers which are typically plastic heavy and not very green. Instead of opting for a new ornament box or plastic tub, consider using these easy and simple storage tricks.
Egg Cartons
Egg cartons are the perfect solution to keeping ornaments safe for next year. If you have small breakables or small ornaments, an egg carton is a great carrying solution. Place each item in one of the egg slots and it will keep them neatly separated and safe for next year.
Stack the egg cartons on top of each other, but remember not to place anything heavy on top of these cartons. Having the breakables in these cartons will allow you to easily tell which boxes or items need to be handled with care. An added benefit of the egg carton storage is that bulbs and items with strings will remain untangled. There is nothing worse than opening a box and spending hours detangling strings and hooks.
Shredded Newspaper and Wrapping Paper
Use your holiday trash for storage. Fill empty boxes with shredded wrapping paper or newspaper. Place breakable items in the boxes filled with the shredded paper and they will not move around. This will keep items from breaking and will ensure safe storage for next year. Bring out the recyclable bin and give the trash new life.
Disposable Cups
If you have leftover plastic cups from the holidays rinse them out and repurpose them into an easy to use storage box. Take an empty cardboard box and fill it will the cups side by side. Place decorations in each individual cup and then fill with shredded holiday wrappings or newspapers. This will ensure items are kept separate and less likely to break. This is the perfect homemade solution to the store bought plastic ornament containers.
If you don’t have disposable cups you can repurpose tin cans, the bottoms of plastic bottles, or anything that could be used as a holder.
These are just a few ideas to keep your holiday packing eco-friendly and efficient. Do you reuse your holiday decorations? If so, do you utilize any of these green tips?
