Top tips on gifting
More and more people are looking for waste free presents, easy to recycle wrapping and other ways to reduce waste. Our handy guide below should help even the keenest recycler to make some positive changes.
Homemade gifts
Whether it's fully home made, upcycled or a hamper mixed with shop bought gifts the possibilities are endless. From biscuits, sweets, or hot chocolate jars, a refill hamper, to a jumper if you're into knitting give a gift with an extra bit of love.
Preloved presents
Be kind to your purse, the environment and help out charities by gifting preloved items. Charity shops and our Reuse Shops are a treasure trove full of unusual items that will cost a fraction of their original price. Go with a budget and an open mind. Read this blog on the top tips on how to shop in charities shops.
There are also the online options like Freegle and Facebook Marketplace. Did you know there are over 25,000 Freegle users in Bucks all giving and taking items to give them a new home!
Alternative gifts
A donation made on your behalf to a conservation or environmental charity? Sponsor an animal? A local experience day? Or a reusable item that they can keep on using for years to come.
Plastic free gift wrapping
It is possible to give beautifully wrapped gifts that are still eco-friendly. Avoiding plastics is a good place to start but also think about buying wrapping that can be either reused, such as a scarf, or recycled. Check out this great article on ways to wrap without the plastic. You can use items you already have to wrap presents - from magazines, newspaper and even old maps - and even better fabric, which can be kept and reused.
Check out the our tips for what can be recycled as well as how and where.
Wrapping paper
Do the scrunch test! You can recycle wrapping paper at home in Bucks, but only non-foil paper will be accepted. To check, scrunch up the paper and if it doesn't spring back it is non-foil and can be recycled. Before recycling, remove any sticky tape and decorations such as ribbons and bows as these cannot be recycled.
Cardboard
If you've ordered goods online, it's likely your items were delivered in boxes or envelopes made from corrugated cardboard which is easy to recycle at home in Bucks. Remember to remove any plastic or polystyrene inserts and excess sticky tape from cardboard boxes before recycling. Any excess can also be taken to your nearest household recycling centre.
Food waste
Food that can't be eaten can be recycled. Meat bones, vegetable peelings and coffee grounds can all be recycled at home. The weekly food recycling service makes it easier than ever. You can also use spare plastic bags to line your caddy too, like bread or salad bags. Find out more about your food recycling here.
Foil
Foil is one of the most important materials to recycle due to the environmental benefits it offers. The good news is clean household foil and aluminium trays are widely recycled in household collection schemes and at household recycling centres. Collect any small pieces of foil in a tin can so they don't get lost, when you have enough scrunch them all together to tennis ball size and pop in your home recycling bin.
Batteries
Batteries are all over the house. Please do not put old batteries in the bin. You can recycle them separately in lots of ways. Most shops and supermarkets that sell batteries have recycling bins in-store for used batteries. You can also recycle them at your local Household Recycling Centre. Or put them out on top of your bin for weekly collection.
Flowers
Once flowers have finished blooming you can put them in your garden waste bin, your compost bin (chopped up), or take them to your nearest Household Recycling Centre.
There are thousands of items you can look up on the Waste Wizard.
Reuse
Don't forget to save what you can to reuse, from big bits of wrapping paper, ribbons, bows to tubs to store item!
Did you receive a gift you already have or isn't quite 'you'? Or do you need to have a good clear out? Did you know you can donate items (toys, extra gifts, bikes, decorations, ornaments) to any of the 10 Household Recycling Centre sites for sale in our 2 reuse shops, run by South Bucks Hospice.