Dreaming of a green Christmas in the Moorlands

Christmas is always a busy time in the Staffordshire Moorlands and the shopping, decorating our homes and seasonal socialising can mean that recycling or reusing waste slips down our list of priorities.

But with the festivities generating additional waste for more households, Staffordshire Moorlands District Council is reminding residents that it is as important as ever to recycle as much as you can.

Councillor Arthur Forrester, cabinet member for the environment, said: "The festive season is traditionally a time when friends and families come together to exchange gifts and enjoy social occasions so it is inevitable that the amount of waste households produce increases at this time of year.

"Moorlands residents do a wonderful job of recycling and reusing items all year so we're asking people to continue to make the time during the busy Christmas period to continue their efforts and recycle their seasonal waste.

"There's a quick and handy guide to recycling on our website to help people keep up their good work. I'd also like to take this opportunity to thank residents for all their efforts to recycle throughout the year and wish everyone a happy - and green - Christmas."

Christmas lunch, New Year's Eve celebrations and friends and family popping round mean fridges and cupboards are stocked with food and drink. Plastic drinks bottles and pots, tubs and trays, along with drinks cans, food tins and glass bottles and jars, can go straight into the grey bin - just give them a quick rinse first.

Egg boxes, cardboard sleeves for food packaging and your favourite cake and biscuit selection boxes can also all be recycled.

Food waste, including vegetable peelings, turkey bones, plate scrapings, tea bags and coffee grounds, and any out-of-date food can be put in your brown bin ready to be recycled once collections restart in January.

Parties and get-togethers mean we might spend more time getting ready so remember that toiletries such as plastic shower gel and shampoo bottles, deodorant and shaving gel aerosols as well as the card packaging from face creams and moisturisers can all be recycled.

And when it's all over for another year, you can start your good recycling resolutions by putting greetings cards in your grey bin and chopping up your real Christmas tree and putting it in your brown bin.