It might feel like you only just dropped off your jack-o-lanterns at your food waste drop-off site, but we at the South Portland Sustainability Office know that the holidays are right around the corner, which for us means it’s recycling season. This time of year, alive with gift giving, leaves us burdened with packaging, so it is important to remind ourselves of what items are recyclable and what items are better left in the trash.

While we know many people in our community want to divert as much waste from the trash as possible, we also want to avoid “wish-cycling” — the improper disposal of trash in the recycling or food waste streams.

Wish-cycling can lead to contamination of our recycling haul, which can ultimately result in an entire pickup being re-designated as trash because it is deemed too contaminated for ecomaine to sort and recycle. This holiday season, try to recycle properly and avoid wish-cycling while doing your post-holiday waste disposal.

Here are some common holiday items and how best to dispose of them:

Bows (reuse or trash)

Wrapping paper (reuse or recycle)

Tissue paper (reuse or trash)

Paper gift bags (reuse or recycle)

Mesh gift bags (reuse or trash)

Cardboard boxes (recycle)

Boxes with plastic windows (remove plastic and put in trash; recycle cardboard)

Ornaments and decorations (reuse, donate or trash)

Christmas lights (reuse, donate, or bring to local transfer station)

Artificial Christmas trees (reuse, donate or bring to local transfer station)

If you have a recycling question about an item that is not included in the list above, check out the South Portland Recyclopedia at southportland.org/departments/sustainability-office/waste-reduction/. The South Portland Recyclopedia also includes information on pick-up days, transfer station locations, and the City’s food waste program.

Don’t forget to join the sustainability office for Coffee and Climate: Recycling on Nov. 12 from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. Bring your holiday cheer to the sustainability office’s monthly virtual office hours with the city of Portland where we will be joined by ecomaine to discuss recycling. Bring a cup of Joe and we hope to see you there.

Register for the event at www.oneclimatefuture.org/events/.

For those gift givers who are really looking to challenge themselves this holiday season, try and see how much you can reduce your overall waste through conscientious holiday shopping and gift wrapping. Buying products with limited-to0no packaging tells the market that’s what consumers want.

Instead of buying new wrapping paper or gifts bags, reuse last year’s wrapping paper, wrap using newspaper or magazine covers, or reuse gift bags or boxes that you already have on hand. And don’t forget to save any wrapping materials that you use this year for next year’s wrapping.

Our Sustainable City is a column in the Sentry intended to provide residents with news and information about sustainability initiatives in South Portland. Follow the sustainability office on Instagram and Facebook @soposustainability. Casey Zorn is sustainability program manager for South Portland. She can be reached at 207-347-4147 or czorn@southportland.org.

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