Tips to reuse and recycle during the holidays

The holidays can be a time when we end up creating a lot of needless waste. Here are a few helpful hints to reuse and recycle some of that garbage and at the same time, combine it with the spirit of giving.

Don't throw away wrapping paper and tissue that piles up as your family opens gifts. Instead, use it to protect the holiday ornaments you'll soon be storing from getting scratched or chipped, or donate it to a pet care centre. Choose one or all of these three options:

• Wrap each ornament in leftover paper when placing in the storage box. If desired, store the ornaments by type and Christmas tree balls by colour. However you choose to store, label each box with the contents.
• Feed the wrapping paper into a shredder. Then use the paper ribbons as packing material to keep your ornaments in good shape.
• Donate shredded wrapping paper to a veterinary clinic. Many veterinarians use shredded paper as bedding for the animals in their care. Just call first to make sure the paper is wanted and needed.

Consider unwanted clothing, furniture, appliances, electronic equipment and odds and ends of any sort as items that would be welcomed by the less fortunate. Organizations or charitable groups will accept virtually anything that is still in good condition.

Clothing can be donated to the clothes closet of a local house of worship or a charitable consignment store. A cardboard box filled with gently worn shoes or a black plastic trash bag filled with towels and sheets that no longer match your colour scheme becomes a vessel of hope rather than a bag bound for the city dump.

Either deliver your goods to the charity in person or schedule a pickup. Your reward is the knowledge that someone in need will benefit from a "new" shirt, pair of shoes, sofa or even the connection to the world at large, a computer.

If you enjoy tackling crafts projects with your kids or on your own, look at the holiday cards you receive as a wealth of raw material. Snip images from the cards and use them to create collages or abstract compositions that gives you artwork suitable for framing. Even better, it consolidates the wishes of friends and family into a memento that's both aesthetically pleasing and meaningful.

Get into the spirit of giving, and of giving back, with these great tips for recycling and reusing the excesses of the holiday season.