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All That Glitters Is Rarely Gold
Sellotape? Shouldn’t we return to using string?
One of the post-Christmas rituals in our house is removing the sellotape from the used Christmas wrap so it can be successfully recycled. It’s a sticky job, but someone’s got to do it.
And guess who that is?
But as the tub filled with strips of clear hold-all refusing to let go of pieces of wrapping, I thought back to gifts of yester-year. Their wrapping would come held in place with coloured string or bright festive ribbon. Knots would be carefully undone because the recycling was truly in-house.
String would be used for future parcels or flopping houseplants; ribbon would be washed and ironed flat to be kept for craftwork. Sticky sellotape was minimal.
It is estimated that the UK now uses 40 million rolls of sellotape just over Christmas. It’s all got to go somewhere — and that somewhere is landfill. At least if it is separated from the 108 million rolls of wrapping paper we use, most of the latter can be recycled.
And in our house, it is. Except, researching for this post I now see that it’s not.
Any paper that can be scrunched into a ball and stays in a ball is undoubtably recyclable. If it begins to open it carries a high percentage of plastic which contaminates the bale, losing the lot to… landfill.
Okay. Lunch first, then Round Two. Wasn’t I supposed to be going for a walk?
Wishing all a Happy & Healthy New Year.
