JACKSON, Wyo. — Between Thanksgiving and New Year’s, Americans pile up an incredible 23% more trash than they do during any other time of the year, according to a Center for Biological Diversity study.
‘Tis the season to recycle.
Teton County Solid Waste and Recycling would like to remind everyone in the Jackson Hole community that with just a few simple steps, “going green” over the holidays doesn’t mean sacrificing the holiday spirit.
Christmas Trees
In Teton County, disposing of your real Christmas trees after the holidays is easy. Take your tree — cleaned of all decorations, lights and tinsel — to the Teton County Fairgrounds near the entrance at Flat Creek Drive and Snow King Avenue, between Dec. 26 and Jan. 31.
Through a partnership with Teton County, the Town of Jackson and Terra Firma Organics, the trees will be ground for composting locally, rather than being trucked 100 miles to be buried with trash in the landfill. Don’t trash your tree; compost it for free.
Christmas Lights and Ornaments
We encourage residents to reuse or find a new home for unwanted light strands or ornaments. But if they’ve reached their lifespan, light strands may be brought to the community Recycling Center at Adams Canyon Road and placed in the appropriate bin near the door to the office.
Unfortunately, glass ornaments cannot be recycled with glass bottles and should be placed in the trash in the safest way possible to avoid cuts to handlers.
Wrapping Paper and Packaging
Wrapping paper is a fun tradition, but much of the mass-produced wrapping paper cannot be recycled due to non-paper additives, like plastic laminates, glitter, dyes and other decorative elements that can’t be separated in the recycling process from the paper fibers. There are other ways to get creative with wrapping presents, though, such as using paper bags, last year’s calendar, old t-shirts and other recyclable materials.
Corrugated cardboard (look for the ridges to determine if it’s “corrugated”) that gifts are often shipped in can always be recycled, and residents can also throw brown packing paper and brown paper bags in with it. White packing paper can go into the newspaper bin. And some plastic packing materials, such as stretchy bubble wrap and air bags, can be recycled in the “plastic film” bin.
Styrofoam and paperboard (like cereal boxes) can’t be recycled in Teton County and should be thrown away with trash.
If community recycling bins are full, residents are requested to visit one of the other eight community recycling locations or to hold onto items until space is available.
Food and Beverage Volume & Composting
Cooking high volumes of food for large family gatherings is often the norm, but food waste adds up fast. Consider how many people will be attending your gatherings and be conscious about purchasing only the amount of food and drinks necessary, to avoid having too many leftovers that end up becoming food waste.
If residents do have food waste, they may take advantage of Teton County’s food scrap composting program. Residents may bring their compostable food scraps to the Recycling Center during business hours. For just $2 per five-gallon bucket of waste, food scraps are collected for use in local composting operations, going back into the earth in an environmentally sound way versus being trucked and buried in a landfill.
Teton County also has a growing commercial composting program for restaurants and other high-volume businesses.
Teton County Solid Waste and Recycling hopes you’ll consider these tips for enjoying a more sustainable holiday season and wishes you all a Happy Holidays! For more information, visit: TetonCountyWy.gov/Recycle or call (307) 733-7678, aka 733-SORT.
