With the holiday season in full swing, most people in Riverside, CA are probably not thinking about how to cut back on their environmental footprint. The holidays are obviously an important time to come together with friends and family. They´re also a time generally characterized by excess. Sharing huge meals, decorating our homes and businesses, and lavishing each other with gifts generally leads to an enormous amount of waste that accumulates during the holiday season. According to one estimate, between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day waste increases by about 25 percent in the United States. That amounts to about one million tons of extra waste each week, most of which unfortunately ends up in the landfill. 

Though we should obviously enjoy the holidays for the celebration and relaxation that they bring, we should also take the necessary time to reflect on the things we care for, including the environment. Reducing the amount of junk, waste, and other trash that gets thrown away during the holiday season is one way that all of us can show appreciation for the gifts that the natural world gives us. Below, we offer a few tips for how homeowners, business owners, and other residents of Riverside, CA can properly dispose of materials and reduce their environmental impact during the holiday season. 

Tip #1: Use reusable shopping bags

In 2022, the average shopper is expected to buy nine gifts. Though is down from last year (when we bought about 16 gifts each), we are still spending around $880 on gifts during the holidays. As you head out to do some last-minute shopping for gifts for the family or to the grocery store to prepare your Christmas feast, it is important to always bring reusable bags with you. Incredibly, five trillion plastic bags are produced worldwide annually. It can take up to 1,000 years for a bag to disintegrate completely. Americans throw away 100 billion bags annually– that’s the equivalent of dumping nearly 12 million barrels of crude oil! That absurd amount of waste can be avoided by simply bringing a reusable back with you on your trips to the store. 

Tip #2: Get creative with gift wrapping

Most wrapping paper, tissue paper, and ribbons simply cannot be recycled due to the fact that they are either too glossy for recyclers to reuse, or because it is made from low-quality paper that the paper mills can’t use. This means that most of the wrapping paper we use over the holidays is simply sent to the landfill. With a bit of creativity, we can essentially eliminate this source of holiday waste. Consider using old maps, old comic strips from newspapers, colorful cloth from used clothes, or even old gift bags. Better yet, consider the wrapping part of the gift by using a pretty scarf or a new dish towel. Two gifts in one will always be appreciated! 

Tip #3: Separate the cardboard boxes and other packaging materials 

The average household in the United States throws away more than 9,000 pieces of cardboard every year. Recycling cardboard produces less than 50 percent sulfur dioxide than making the card from raw materials. Fortunately, cardboard is relatively easy to recycle and in high demand within the recycling industry. Making the effort to separate your cardboard boxes during the holiday season can drastically reduce the amount of waste sent to the landfill. 

Tip #4: Don’t throw away electronics

During the holidays, many people will receive some sort of new electronic gadget as a present. If you do upgrade your TV, phone, computer, or other electronic appliance, make sure that the old ones that are replaced are properly recycled. Unfortunately, we generate around 40 million tons of electronic waste every year, worldwide. That’s like throwing 800 laptops into the dump every second, and e-waste comprises 70 percent of our overall toxic waste. Finding ways to properly recycle your electronics is an important step in keeping toxic materials from contaminating our local environment in Riverside, CA. 

Tip #5: Properly dispose of Christmas trees

When the holidays are over, and you take down the Christmas tree, it is important to find ways to dispose of that tree properly. When trees and other organic materials end up in landfills, they produce an enormous amount of methane gas, which is one of the most potent greenhouse gasses. Instead of sending your tree to the dump, consider dropping it off at a composting program where it can be turned into high-quality mulch where it will approve the soil. 

Tip #6: Hire Junk King of Riverside for all your Holiday Waste Removal Needs  

Lastly, you can also consider hiring Junk King of Riverside for all of your holiday waste removal needs. For people who live in Riverside, CA we are proud to offer the most environmentally friendly junk removal service in the region. When we pick up your holiday waste, we go the extra mile to sort through that junk to determine what can be donated, recycled, or otherwise repurposed. Unlike other junk removal companies, we are able to recycle or donate up to 60 percent of the junk items we pick up. 

Furthermore, when you hire Junk King for your holiday junk removal needs, we promise to offer: 

• The best customer service and the quickest response time: In many cases we may even be able to haul away your junk on the same day you contact us so you can clean up your home or business quickly after the holidays end. 
• The ability to haul away virtually ANYTHING that is not classified as toxic waste: Our junk hauling teams can help you get rid of virtually any junk item, from heavy refrigerators in the basement to 2,000 pound hot tubs on the back deck. 
• The most competitive prices on the market: We have some of the largest trucks on the market, which means that we can haul away more items per trip. This allows us to offer the most competitive prices for junk removal. Furthermore, we only charge our clients for the amount of space your junk takes up in our truck.

We are proud to provide the region´s top-rated, most efficient, and most environmentally friendly junk removal services. Also, providing our customers with “fair and transparent” pricing is one of the hallmarks of our company and we even offer your four different ways to get a free estimate, including free, on-site pricing estimates.  You can also call us toll-free at 1 888-888-JUNK or at (706) 705-5320, text us a photo of the junk items you need hauled away at 737-888-5865, or use our easy-to-use online pricing estimator. 

No matter what option you choose, as soon as a price is agreed upon, you choose a date and two-hour service window that works for your schedule. Our junk removal professionals will call you 15-30 minutes before we show up to promptly take your junk! When you’re in need of a junk hauling team to quickly get your home or business cleaned up after the holiday, and want to choose the greenest junk removal company in the industry, contact us or give us a call 1-888-888-JUNK (5865).