CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas —
Christmas is just a couple weeks away and many people are sure to be unboxing and unwrapping their holiday gifts.
The Center for Biological Diversity reports that the equivalent of 30 million trees are used to wrap gifts during the holidays. Instead of throwing away every piece of paper or plastic, there's a better way to go about getting rid of that waste.
Instead of tossing all of that waste in garbage, the assistant director of the City of Corpus Christi's solid waste department, Rey Flores, says that most of the common holiday items are actually able to be recycled.
"We know a lot of people, right now, have boxes delivered daily to their house. We want to make sure and encourage our citizens to throw those into the blue container that we have, because those are great for repurposing and recycling," Flores said.
Other common holiday materials that can be recycled include gift tube wrapping, hard plastics, and wrapping paper. Although there are a few types of paper that Flores says should make their way into the trash.
"We're going to encourage you to throw those into the garbage. You know, those foil papers that you have the tissue paper, bubble wrap. All that isn't really recyclable in our program, so we do want our citizens to throw those into either the green or the brown cart,” he said.
When throwing away old batteries to make space for new ones needed for your kids' new toys, Flores says those should also go to the trash along with any bubble wrap, ribbons and bows.
As for your holiday decorations, you should be keeping those out of the recycling bin.
"We get a lot of Christmas string lights in the recycle cart for some reason, and those actually aren't recyclable," he said.
For those looking to get rid of their real Christmas trees, the city's solid waste service department will also be offering their Christmas tree recycling program until January 31.
"You can drop them off at our J.C. Elliot Transfer Station. They are going to be open the day after Christmas and New Year's if you're keeping your tree up a little longer,” he said.
For those looking to get rid of their real Christmas trees, the city's solid waste department will also be offering their Christmas tree recycling program. A drop-off container for real trees will be provided at the gate of the J.C. Elliot Transfer Station from Dec. 26 through Jan. 31.
If you're ever unsure on what materials you should or shouldn't recycle, the city's recycling app can help you out.
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