In the aftermath of Christmas many people look around their homes both inside and out and find a lot of waste leftover from holiday celebrations. Some of these decorations will go into boxes where they will be stored until next Christmas when they will once again be strung and hung for a week. However, most of the waste associated with Christmas cannot be re-used which leads to the holiday season being one of the most wasteful times of the year. Wrapping paper goes unrecycled, Christmas trees are tossed carelessly into landfills, and old electronic devices are discarded in favor of the newest trend. One council in the United Kingdom has found a way to limit waste and at the same time support a much needed charity.
Studies have shown that people are much more likely to recycle if there is some type of incentive for them to do so. This is often in the form of cash rewards or vouchers, but another way to motivate people is attach recycling to some type of charity or worthy cause. This is the case in Leicestershire where the local council has found an innovative way to get their residents to recycle old Christmas cards. Residents can leave their old cards at any service shop in Leicestershire or at the Leicestershire library. The money raised from the scheme will all go to The Woodland Trust one of the leading woodland conservations charities in Britain.
The scheme has been going for over a decade and in that time more than thirteen thousand tonnes of cards were recycled and over one hundred and fifty thousand trees were planted.
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