A cleaner, greener Christmas

Christmas comes but once a year, but some festive waste can last forever.

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council is encouraging residents to have an environ-merry Christmas this year by reducing, reusing and recycling festive waste.

Remembering revised bin collection days will also help towards a greener Christmas by avoiding any unnecessary trips to the tip.

There will be no rubbish, food (for Bournemouth and Christchurch) or recycling bin collections on Christmas Day, Boxing Day or New Year’s Day, with the council’s bin collection crews taking a well-earned break on these days.

Catch-up collections will run from 27 December – 13 January 2024, with some collections taking place on Saturdays. All residents need to remember to put their bins out by 5am on their revised collection day.

Bin hangers with the revised collection dates will be appearing on bins from 4 December. These include a useful recycling guide for residents to keep for the coming year.

Any extra rubbish and recycling can be taken to the recycling centres at Bournemouth, Longham; Christchurch, Wilverley Road; or Poole, Nuffield with sites open every day except Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. They will be closing early at 1pm on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve.

If you’re planning to rock around a real Christmas tree, don’t forget to book in early to ‘treecycle’ through local charities including Diverse Abilities, Dorset Mind and Lewis Manning. For a small fee, they will collect the real tree and dispose of it from the kerbside in early January 2024.

Alternatively, trees can be chopped up and added to garden waste bins, ready for the extra collection for the 2024 service from the end of January.

Councillor Andy Hadley, Portfolio Holder for Climate Response, Environment and Energy said:

“We all need to become more environmentally friendly and small changes can make all the difference, especially at Christmas when more gets consumed, and more waste is generated.

“From reusing last year’s wrapping paper and reducing your food waste, to recycling your mulled wine bottles and remembering to put bins out on the revised collection dates, everything needs to be considered when thinking about a green and more sustainable Christmas.

“My thanks go to the waste teams who will be working hard over the festive period in all weather, as well as all the other council staff working over these important dates to aim to ensure everyone has a great seasonal holiday.”

Follow these top tips to enjoy a greener Christmas:

• consider buying your Christmas presents at the council’s ‘new to you’ reclaim shop at Cabot Lane in Poole, buy from charity shops, or get a gift to support those in need around the world
• reuse wrapping paper and recycle last year’s Christmas cards into parcel labels
• buy rechargeable batteries for children’s toys and electrical goods
• turn leftover food into tasty meals following recipes from Love Food Hate Waste
• avoid single use or disposable items like cutlery and plates
• consider buying ethical gifts or those with less packaging
• visit refill shops to cut out the extra waste

For more information, please visit bcpcouncil.gov.uk/festivebins

Revised bin collection dates:

Usual collection day	Revised collection day
Monday 25 December	Wednesday 27 December
Tuesday 26 December	Thursday 28 December
Wednesday 27 December	Friday 29 December
Thursday 28 December	Saturday 30 December
Friday 29 December	Tuesday 2 January 2024
Monday 1 January 2024	Wednesday 3 January
Tuesday 2 January	Thursday 4 January
Wednesday 3 January	Friday 5 January
Thursday 4 January	Saturday 6 January
Friday 5 January	Monday 8 January
Monday 8 January	Tuesday 9 January
Tuesday 9 January	Wednesday 10 January
Wednesday 10 January	Thursday 11 January
Thursday 11 January	Friday 12 January
Friday 12 January	Saturday 13 January