Christmas extends well into January in Latin American cities. After the Three Kings holiday. Environmentalists advocate these natural fir trees to the detriment of plastic ones, and recommend buying them in specialized nurseries. Both manage them with ecological criteria, cultivating them for this purpose. “It is a living being,” they remember. “You have to keep them away from the radiators, keep them moist and not load them with excess balls,” he adds. With this care, delivered in good condition, they will return to the natural environment and will be useful for another year.
If you want to opt for an artificial specimen, cardboard trees are recommended because they can be recycled. These sustainable fir trees usually consist of four cards in the shape of a cross, allowing it to stand upright. The material takes the shape of leaves and has slits to hang decorations or through which colored lights can pass.
The plastic ones, he warns, are not a container and cannot be placed in the yellow recycle container. As a last option, the promoters agree to suggest an artificial one made of plastic but it is of very good quality. “Durability is the best of the environmental criteria,” he assures, referring to its reuse in future years. The same criteria applies with ornaments. Better to rescue last year’s balls than buy new ones. Better if they are made of wood or paper because they can be recycled when they are no longer useful. Or Talavera ceramics, because they are unique and valuable handcrafted pieces, so extreme care will be taken – in any case they are hollow, they don’t weigh that much – and they will be used year after year and there will not be a tree like it.
How to manage the waste generated at Christmas (with the colored recycle containers)
Wines
There is a technique to open sparkling wines. The bottle always rests on a surface during the first phase. The wrapping that covers the stopper is removed, the stopper is pinched with the big finger to prevent the cork from flying out while the metal muzzle is removed (six turns must be made to the wire in the shape of a circle). The muzzle is removed while continuing to press the cap with your finger (for safety). Now is when you lift the bottle and hold it by the butt and tilt it about 45 degrees. It’s the bottle that rotates, not the cork. It must be done very slowly and avoid making noise when opening it.
Way to recycle it
Bottle. It weighs 850 grams, it is a thicker glass container than those that contain still wines because it has to withstand the pressure of the gas. To the green container.
Cork. Cava bottles always have cork stoppers, not synthetic ones. To contain the pressure.To the brown one, to the organic one.
Metal muzzle surrounding the cap.Necessary so that the gas does not expel the plug. Being metallic like a can and considered part of the packaging, yellow.
Metallic paper that wraps the neck of the bottle. You can put it together with the muzzle and deposit it in the yellow. It is a metal wrapper.
Nougat
How to recycle it
Metal box. A container can be considered as if it were a can of preserves, so it is deposited in yellow. Always aware of reuse, recommends finding another use for it. The most obvious is as a storage box.
Carton box. To the blue container as long as it is not very stained, because it would contaminate the rest.
Plastic wrapper. It is a container and made of plastic. To yellow.
Decorative white paper that covers the tray of Christmas sweets. To blue if it has not been stained excessively. Polvorones and other sweets come in their own packaging, so they won’t end up very dirty.
Panetton
Academics described it as a sponge cake, something that was misread by Italian artisans, who insist that it is a fermented sourdough bread filled with raisins and candied orange, which is not a pastry product. The Italians have done it again, as with pizza, creating in this case an unbeatable and international sweet.
Way to recycle it
Decorated paper in which it is sold. To the blue paper that covers it similar to that used in cupcakes. It goes to the gray container, the one for the rest fraction, because a part of the product remains stuck.
Plastic wrapper that covers it.To yellow.
Cardboard that prevents it from deforming. To the blue.
Plasticized metal that serves to close the packaging similar to that of sliced bread. It is part of the packaging and is metallic. To yellow.
The ham
The best way to gauge the value of a Christmas basket is to check the color of the seal attached to the leg of ham. Black indicates that the ham is 100% Iberian acorn-fed. Red means that it is acorn-fed, but has less purity of the Iberian breed (between 50% and 75%). If it is green, it does not eat acorns, but it grazes outdoors and feeds on feed, and it is Iberian. The white guy is still Iberian, but it implies that he lives on farms, he is stabled. These vitolas are worn by both the hams (back legs) and the shoulders (front).
Way to recycle it
Fabric in which it is sold.To gray, remainder fraction.
Cardboard box that acts as a Christmas basket. In blue, always folded and should never be left next to the container because it gets damaged and also gets in the way. Ham rind. It’s organic, like bone, so it goes brown
Plastic in which a cut ham is packaged. The packaging where it is sold already sliced is yellow. The plastics that serve to separate the slices, too.
Gift Wrap
Some of the wrapping paper looks like plastic but is actually glossy, like magazine paper, so it can be placed in the blue container. Those that are made of plastic, like some that cover the plants as a gift, should go yellow.
Way to recycle it
Glossy wrapping paper. It imitates metal, but it is made of paper. To the blue.
Classic wrapping paper, Aguado recommends opening the gift carefully and reusing that packaging for the rest of the year’s birthdays at the risk of looking like you are giving the same thing.
Flower-shaped paper detail that is placed on the wrapping or fabric bow that runs through the package. It depends on the material. If it is a paper flower, blue. If it is a dried flower, brown. If it is fabric, gray. If it is pita rope, brown. Aguado remembers that recycling is as important as doing it well. It is advisable to deposit it in the correct container so as not to contaminate the rest of the waste.
Eco-advice for a family Christmas
Environmental disseminators provide advice during these holidays. Prepare the recycling bins and bags before all the family members arrive so that waste is separated correctly from the beginning.
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