A tidy Kiwi Christmas

by Metropol | December 10, 2025 8:33 am

Between 1.6 million kilograms of wrapping paper (that’s 10,000 trees), 25 million kilograms of plastic packaging waste, and one-third of Christmas food discarded, the Christmas holiday contributes to a 30% increase in waste across New Zealand.

It’s a bitter pill to swallow during such a cheerful season – yet it’s our wasteful reality. How can you do your bit to reduce what goes to landfill? Try these tips.

• Gift experiences over products: reduce packaging and wrapping paper by giving vouchers for an experience – dinner, movies, massage, spa day.
• Repurpose real Christmas trees: compost, chip or use them as firewood after the celebrations end. Or take it to an EcoDrop green waste drop-off (standard charges will apply).
• Work with waste-free decorations: think cinnamon sticks, dried orange and apple slices, and fallen leaves or pinecones.
• Wrap with fabric and ribbon rather than paper: sustainable and significantly more beautiful, material and ribbons are a lovely way to wrap
  a gift (and can be reused for years to come). See page 50 for an example.
• Know the bin rules: place correct waste in the correct bins. Plastic wrap, plastic strapping, courier bags, bubble wrap, plastic shopping bags, and confectionery bar wrappers must go in the red bin, while old Christmas cards and tearable wrapping paper can go in the yellow bin.
• Donate unwanted Christmas gifts: keep the thought, donate the product to a participating charity shop so someone else can give it the love it deserves.
• Excess food: dispose of food waste thoughtfully and into the right bins.
  Food scraps (including chicken and turkey bones) and any left-overs you can no longer use, can be disposed of in the green organics wheelie bin. Hot tip: don’t overfill your plate – most of us have eyes bigger than our bellies on Christmas day so pace yourself.

Source URL: https://metropol.co.nz/a-tidy-kiwi-christmas/

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