Recycling for Christmas decorations

CEBU, Philippines - Christmas is definitely in the air. Christmas carols are playing everywhere, and the ambient temperatures are cooler, especially at late nights. And Christmas decorations are popping up, too.

Most homes – and stores and offices, as well – are racing up with their Christmas decorations. Decorating at Christmas is both a religious and cultural tradition. It has become a social culture to embody the merry spirit of the season. And many people also make it a manifestation of their Christian faith to decorate, as part of their celebration of the birth of Christ.

In the home, the Christmas tree is often at the center of it all. In the Philippines, almost always there would be a “belen” at the foot of the tree. Interestingly, the local version of the Christmas tree is not a tree, but the grown stem of the maguey flower.

The first recorded tree put up for Christmas was reportedly in 1510 in Latvia and 1521 in Slovakia. The jump from being a wintertime decoration to a symbol of Christmas supposedly came from trees being decorated in Biblical and Nativity plays, which were popular in those days. But the tradition of putting trees in homes during wintertime – and not just at Christmas – actually began even further to the pagan times. It wasn’t until the 1500s that these evergreen trees began being associated with Christmas.

And so the Christmas tree has since stuck. And the Christmas decorations have grown from just the Christmas tree to include all other additional symbols of Christmas. 

The Christmas holidays – once the time of the year when people used to relax at home and share good food – is today a time when people go into a frenzy of buying things and consuming to excess. Modern-day commercialism encourages this over-consumptive public behavior. But the recent public consciousness on the state of the environment has also prompted people to slow down on their consumption of resources.

In this light, recycling or reusing things is becoming a popular practice. With regards to Christmas decorations, more and more people are realizing that they may not need to buy new things every year? They buy new decorations once and then reuse the same over and over again. Recycling Christmas decors can, indeed, stimulate the creativity.

The following ideas from Yaara Lancet, writing at www.makeuseof.com, are a good way to start recycling Christmas decorations:

Ball-Shaped Ornaments from Junk Mail. Do you get tons of junk mail? Did you buy too many Christmas cards and now don’t know what to do with them? Don’t throw it away! All this paper can be used to make impressive Christmas garlands and decorations. All you have to do is cut your spare paper cards into circles, fold them, glue them, and tie everything with a string. It really is as easy as it sounds.

Recycled Christmas Garlands. This one is easy to do, even by young children. There’s no extra folding and gluing involved – just cut pretty pieces of paper and tape them onto a string. That’s all there is to it. You can use any paper for this, from unused Christmas cards to junk mail and magazines.

Old Keyboard Ornaments. An old keyboard you no longer need can be used to make Christmas ornaments; it is one of the most original ideas out there. And if you decide to make one, your tree is bound to get some extra attention. All it takes to make keyboard ornaments are some keyboard keys and a little bit of creativity. Even if you just tie them in strings that make up words, you’ve already done something special.

Cork Reindeer. Making a cork reindeer takes a little bit of work and some tools, but it can be a fun project for the whole family, and the results are bound to get a response. All you need to make these are corks and twigs, although extra decorations (if you already have them) can definitely help.

Scrabble Ornaments. Scrabble makes a great gift. And you may have more than one box of the game lying away in the cupboard. Scrabble pieces also tend to get lost, which means you may have incomplete sets which you feel bad about throwing away. The solution? Scrabble Christmas ornaments! You’re going to need some Scrabble letters and trays, as well as some tools such as a saw and a hot glue gun. If you have these tools available, making these ornaments shouldn’t take you more than an hour.

Snowflake Lanterns from Empty Jars. Got some empty jars lying about? How about some junk mail? If you do, you’re ready to make snowflake lanterns. You need to glue the snowflakes onto some jars, and if you want, light candles inside. You can use the snowflakes in different ways too, such as gluing them to the wall, or any other way you can think of.

Paperback Garland. No, you don’t have to ruin a good book to make these ornaments. If you have a paperback that’s already coming apart and has missing pages, what better way to respect it than to re-use it? It doesn’t take much: take some pages from the book, cut them and attach a piece of string. This ornament is super easy to make, and will lend your Christmas tree a true bookish look.

Bottle Snowmen. This is a great craft for those who have young kids and want to get them in on the fun. Just gather up some empty yogurt bottles (or any other kind of smallish plastic bottle) and some extra bottle caps, and using some simple craft supplies, create these adorable snowmen. The best thing about these? You can fill them up with all sorts of goodies.

Lightbulb Ornaments.  Don’t throw away busted lightbulbs! Cover them with glitter or paint, and hang them on your Christmas tree instead of those expensive store-bought ornaments. This one is really easy and requires no more than simple creativity and whatever supplies you have at hand.

Cork Wreath. Corks are a great thing to save if you like recycling and crafts. Aside from reindeer, you can also make other ornaments out of them – like a wreath, for example. All you need is a Styrofoam wreath, a glue gun, and of course, corks!

Coffee Filter Christmas tree. Gather up some coffee filters you don’t need and make a tiny Christmas tree. As long as you have the filters, a foam cone or something else for the tree itself and something flat for the base, the rest is really up to you. Paint the filters or leave them white, glue anything you find around as ornaments, and find the perfect tree top to suit your little tree.

There are many more recycling ideas still to think up for Christmas decorations. They don’t only mean money savings – they can also help save the planet! (FREEMAN)