Between Thanksgiving and New Year’s there is about a 25% increase in volume or about 1,000 pounds of extra waste per household

Some tips on recycling that excess:

• Reuse cardboard and paper boxes for gifts.
• Use plain wrapping paper (sans glitter and embellishments) and plain paper gift bags.
• Use holiday cards and envelopes that don’t have embellishments, like glitter and glued-on decorations.
• Sticky gift tags are not recyclable by themselves, but they are acceptable if affixed to an envelope or wrapping paper.
• Hard plastic containers and jugs for eggnog and cream are recyclable.

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Holidays at the Swap Shop

• Due to storage limitations, please bring unwanted holiday decorations before the holidays, not following.
• The swap shop would love those extra calendars you get as freebies.

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Broken String Lights

Did you know there is a special place to drop off broken string lights at the Eastham Transfer Station?

While this quote is from an older article, this initiative is running again this year, until the end of January. “Recycle Broken or Unwanted Holiday Lights at All Cape Cod Transfer Stations”:
“This time of the year, countless strands of holiday lights are thrown away because a single bulb goes out or breaks,” said Kari Parcell, Cape Cod Cooperative Extension’s Municipal Assistance Coordinator. “With this free collection drive, Barnstable County can divert all holiday lights from the landfill, as recycled goods. This helps save the environment by reducing the amount of waste entering our landfills.”

Holiday lights that are accepted:

• Rope and garland lights
• C7 and C9 bulbs
• Mini lights
• LED holiday lights
• Lights attached to trees cannot be accepted.
• Other light fixtures, such as lighted angels, stars, or other lighted items cannot be accepted.

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Christmas Tree Composting

Live Christmas trees can be dropped off at the yard-waste area of the Transfer Station once the holidays are over. Please remember to remove all lights, ornaments, tinsel, and other decorations before bringing your tree.

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Food Compost at the Holidays

This holiday season, remember to drop off your food scraps at the Transfer Station’s compost bins. Turkey bones, veggie trimmings, peels, and plate scrapings are all accepted. Composting keeps valuable material out of the trash.

• Please do not put plastic bags of any kind into the food compost bins at the Eastham Transfer Station.
• Only certified compostable bags (labeled with BPI, TÜV, or CMA logos) are allowed.

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Volunteers Wanted

The Eastham Recycling Committee is looking for new members—and community volunteers—to help strengthen our waste-reduction efforts. If you’re not ready to join the committee formally, you can still make a big difference by lending a hand on upcoming projects, including:

• Creating new signage for the Recycling Center
• Developing a display about plastic contamination in food-waste compost
• Assisting with a traveling compost-education workshop around town
• Writing the monthly newsletter
• Planning future initiatives
• Working a shift at an info booth at a town event or the transfer station
• And more!

Whether you have an hour to spare or want to take on a small project, we’d love your help. Reach out to recyclingcommittee@eastham-ma.gov and get involved!

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Upcoming Events

• Dec 16 @ 5pm: Recycling Committee Meeting (Eastham Town Hall) The agenda is available on the website.