11 ways to recycle, reuse or donate unwanted Christmas presents
A guide on the best ways to recycle, reuse and donate unwanted Christmas presents so that someone else can enjoy them even if you don't.
It's only human to feel that some gifts we receive at Christmas aren't, shall we say, best-suited to us. Maybe we've got enough socks, we don't actually watch DVDs anymore or we've gone plastic-free and don't need bottles of body lotion.
Whatever the reason, unwanted gifts can't go to waste and even though it may take a bit longer to sort out other options, explains Emma Priestland, plastic pollution campaigner at Friends of the Earth, it's worth it.
“Once Christmas is done and dusted there can be a temptation to get the big new year clean up sorted as quickly as possible," Emma tells Country Living. "It’s important to take a little extra time with the clearing to make sure that unwanted gifts, used wrapping paper, gift packaging and more is not going to landfill unnecessarily."
With that in mind, here are a number of ways you can dispense of your unwanted pressies in the most environmentally-friendly ways possible.
1. RE-GIFTING
Is the brightly-patterned jumper you got from a relative more up your friend's street than yours? Why not gift it to them, instead? Or arrange a mutual swap of unwanted Christmas presents.
2. CHARITY SHOPS
The most obvious answer is to donate items to a charity shop so somebody else can find joy in your gift while, at the same time, money goes towards an important cause.
However, we need to remember that some things cannot be donated. The British Red Cross - who run hundreds of charity shops across the UK - have a list of items which they can't accept for resale. They include:
electric fires
medication
objects that can be used as weapons
bicycles
prescription glasses
children's clothes with drawstring hoods
used moses baskets or cots
While charities might differ, it's worth checking the websites of the main charities who run shops local to you to double-check what can't be donated if you are unsure. Pretty much everything that's not on the list will be accepted.
How has the pandemic affected charity shops?
2020's COVID-19 pandemic brought a difficult year for charity shops. Many had to close during periods of lockdown. This, partnered with fundraising events being cancelled, has left some charity shops struggling to find the funding they need.
On the other hand, when charity shops have been open, many have been overwhelmed by donations from people who have spent lockdown decluttering their homes. Of course the donations are welcome, but with decreased volunteers due to shielding measures, it has become a difficult situation to manage for some.
You must check with your local charity shop that they are open and able to accept your donation. Consider adding Gift Aid when you donate and popping spare change in their collection boxes on the way out.
3. DONATE OLD STAMPS
Save used postage stamps from Christmas gifts and cards and donate them to charities who can turn them back into money to add to their funding.
Stamps are sold by weight, meaning that many charities can turn old ones into funds to help their ongoing work. Simply cut the stamp off the envelope, making sure to leave approximately 1cm of envelope bordering the stamp, and post to the correct address.
Here's a list of charities that accept stamps as donations.
4. DONATE TO A REFUGE
Schemes such as Give and Makeup, started by blogger Caroline Hirons, encourages gifting everyday essentials to women and children living in refuges to escape violence. This is done through both the Women's Aid and Refuge charities in the London and Cardiff areas.
They encourage the donation of new underwear, pyjamas and clothing items then toiletries products like toothbrushes and toothpaste, shower gel, body lotion, deodorant and all forms of make-up. Make-up is encouraged and can be second-hand (apart from in the case of lip glosses and mascara) but they won't accept make-up products that have been very much used. They also accept clothing and toys for children.
Donations must be sent to a general PO box address (the refuge's address will never be provided for security reasons) which can be found on the website.
5. DONATE CLOTHES AND BLANKETS TO HOMELESS
There's a good chance that others will be more in need of the socks, hats, scarfs, jumpers and blankets you might have received at Christmas.
However, one of the most important things you can do is contact the Streetlink service if you are concerned about anyone sleeping rough - which will alert local groups to their presence.
6. GO TO A CLOTHES SWAP
If you are gifted an item of clothing you are not keen on, consider taking it to a local clothes swap and trading it in for something more to your taste. Clothes swaps have become increasingly popular this year and have become great community events to help give garments a second lease of life. Read Country Living writer Lisa's review of her first clothes swap experience.
7. DONATE TOYS TO CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL
If the kids in your life got one too many presents this year, or perhaps were gifted things that weren't best-suited to them, you can donate children's toys, games and products to a children's hospital ward or hospice if they accept donations.
For example, renowned-hospital Great Ormond Street in London advises that the older children (children treated in the hospital go up to the age of 18) love board games, computer games, Lego, arts and crafts, headphones and portable CD or DVD players. The babies in the hospital love mobiles and other developmental toys.
Donated toys must be new, used toys, clothes and books will not be accepted.
8. TAKE BOOKS TO LIBRARY, SCHOOL OR CHARITY
See if your local library or any schools in the nearby area would appreciate some books, educational or fictional, advise the Charities Aid Foundation.
There's also specific charities that focus on donating books, such as Books 2 Africa. The UK-based charity is committed to both reducing waste in the UK and improving the quality of education in Africa through books. More than 20,000 books are donated to the charity each month, they're then checked and sorted through by volunteers before being shipped to African organisations and charities that have requested them. Recently, a community project in Zambia received 27,000 books and the a school training in occupational therapy in Nigeria received 1,000 books benefitting 300 learners.
You can also donate any sports equipment you've received that might not quite align with your 2019 resolutions - as long as it's in a fair condition - to a school, local youth group or sports club who could well be in need of a spare football or tennis racket.
9. RECYCLE, RECYCLE, RECYCLE
It's not just empty bottles of Prosecco and Christmas cards that can be recycled, think carefully about whether any unwanted gifts - or the packaging it came in - can be recycled too.
For example, for pens there's the Writing Instruments Recycling Programme, plenty of cosmetic brands including MAC, Kiehl's and Origins also run schemes for recycling their products' packaging too.
There's also organisations such as Recycling For Good Causes which even takes unwanted jewellery and then assess it and donates a portion of the value to a chosen charity.
10. DISPOSE OF WRAPPING PAPER CORRECTLY
Once the unwanted gifts have been taken care of, it's important to carefully dispose of the wrapping paper too.
Despite the misleading name, Priestland warns that our gifts actually might have been wrapped with plastic.
"Plastic-containing wrapping paper can take hundreds of years to break down, which means it can damage our environment and cause harm to wildlife," she tells us. "An easy way to tell whether your wrapping paper has plastic is to scrunch a small bit of it up. If it unfolds itself it means that it has plastic and cannot be recycled."
Priestland recommends using brown parcel paper this Christmas for your gifts and decorating it yourself. However, if the presents you receive are wrapped in 'paper' made from plastic, and therefore not recyclable, try to salvage as much of it as you can so you can reuse it in the future.
"It may seem a little fiddly, but you'll stopping needless plastic pollution," she says.
11. RETURN OR EXCHANGE
Megan French, consumer expert at Money Saving Expert gave us the lowdown on what to know when it comes to your returning and exchanging rights in the festive aftermath:
“First, check if there was a gift receipt in with the parcel. Usually this should mean the shop will be willing to at least exchange the product for you – though it’s worth noting if you ask for a refund this may go back onto the buyer’s card. If not, the return rights lie with the person who bought the gift – not the recipient – so this could make things a bit trickier.
“The simplest option may to be explain to the person who gave the gift that it’s not quite right for you and ask for their help to exchange it or get it a refund. By law, if they ordered online they have 14 days after delivery to decide if they want to cancel an order, and then a further 14 days to send the item back. If this window has already passed, it’s worth checking if the store has an extended Christmas returns policy.
"If it was bought in store, it will depend on the retailer’s own returns policy as for in-store purchases you’ve no legal right to return if you’ve simply changed your mind – you only have legal rights if it’s faulty. If you want to avoid a potentially awkward conversation you could try your luck with the store, and see if they’d be willing to help you out."
And don't make the same mistake next year...
To live more sustainably, we should all be putting more thought into the gifting process, especially at Christmas. When buying gifts ask yourself the following questions:
Does the recipient genuinely need this or am I buying it for the sake of it?
Is the gift well made and will it last?
Is it a novelty gift or on sale which is making it more attractive?
How is the item packaged and what is its footprint?
Could I make something that would be more meaningful?
Is it supporting a charity or small business?
Is it on the list of the 10 of the most returned Christmas gifts?
Like this article? Sign up to our newsletter to get more articles like this delivered straight to your inbox.
SIGN UP
You Might Also Like
