5 Days until Christmas Composting Tips

Wrapping Up Christmas: What’s Compostable and What’s Not?

Waking up on Christmas morning to a pile of beautifully wrapped presents under the tree is a cherished tradition. As families gather to exchange gifts, the festivities often leave behind a mountain of wrapping paper, gift tags, boxes, and embellishments. But when it comes to disposal, the big question is: What can be composted, and what can’t?

Every year in the USA:

• $11 billion worth of packaging material is discarded.
• 15 million Christmas trees are thrown away.
• 2.6 billion holiday cards are exchanged.

Unfortunately, much of this waste ends up in landfills, where it breaks down and releases methane—a potent greenhouse gas (SeasideSustainability.org).

What Can You Compost?

• Plain Wrapping Paper: Wrapping paper without glitter, foil, or plastic coatings can be composted. Tear it into small pieces to speed up the process.
• Cardboard Boxes: Flatten and shred plain carton boxes. They provide a great carbon source for your HOTBIN.
• Gift Tags: Paper-based tags without embellishments can be composted.
• Twine and Natural Ribbons: Ribbons made from natural fibers like jute or cotton can also go in the compost bin.

What Can’t Be Composted?

• Glitter, Foil, and Plastic-Coated Wrapping Paper
• Sticky Tape and Adhesives
• Plastic Ribbons and Bows

Sustainable Tip

When possible, choose recyclable or compostable wrapping materials and avoid plastic-based embellishments. Composting or recycling properly helps reduce landfill waste and lowers methane emissions, making Christmas more eco-friendly.

Gift tags / Ribbon/Embellishments
Once you’ve read the gift tags and thanked the recipient, discarded cards can be cut up and placed in the HOTBIN. Elements such as foil will not compost, however cotton-based string will.

Then you have ribbons, bows and other embellishments that come in all guises. That is, big or small, foil or natural fiber, etc. Unless they are paper or cotton based, they cannot be composted. However, most can always be stored and put aside for future use. Using outside greenery for embellishments when available, is ideal for composting.

It's estimated that Americans throw away 38,000 miles of ribbon- enough to wrap around the Earth and 2.6 billion cards every year [Seasidesustainability.org].

Gift Wrap
With ~2.3 million pounds of wrapping paper winding up in landfills [brightlyeco], major companies are already sourcing sustainable paper and other materials to help reduce the impact on our planet. It is up to us to do our contribution now, by composting all that can be composted.

Most wrapping paper are compostable in the HOTBIN. Non compostable include paper with glitter, plastic & foil). TIP: When putting your gift-wrap in the HOTBIN ensure it is shredded, free from sticky tape, and any embellishments that won’t compost. Otherwise, you will end up with a big 'bundle' in the bottom of your bin. 

Corrugated Cardboard / Cardboard
You can chop-up brown corrugated card boxes and mix them in with your HOTBIN waste to help balance moisture levels in the bin. Any printed boxes — similar to cereal boxes— are not recommended but can also be shredded and added sparingly to your HOTBIN. The same goes with boxes with wax coatings, as they will also be slower to compost than brown corrugated ones. However, you can expect them to show in the final compost. If you decide not to add them to your HOTBIN, we recommend that you send them to your local recycling provider and avoid —by all means— trashing them with the rest of your trash heading to landfills.