REthink 2020: Holiday Season Edition

December 9, 2020

The holiday season is the busiest time of year for many folks. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, the rate of household waste increases by more than 25 percent for most American households. During this hectic time, Americans throw away an additional 1 million tons of trash to our landfills. It’s critical we reflect on how much food waste, shopping bags, bows and ribbons, packaging, and wrapping paper we all use during the holidays.

Recycling only addresses a fraction of the waste we generate; most of these festive products have a short shelf-life and end up in the landfills and even worse, end up in our waterways. Waste of all kinds, especially single-use plastics, are impacting the health of our environment and our coastal communities.

To help inspire action and mitigate this issue, NOAA’s Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary, Clallam County Waste Prevention Program, Washington CoastSavers, Puget Soundkeeper Alliance, Net Your Problem LLC and other organizations have partnered to encourage the local community to find creative and sustainable answers to cut back on their waste consumption this winter.

We encourage you to join us throughout December in watching these fun and creative videos to learn more about how we can all become more sustainable by making cheery crafts and recycling properly!

Net Your Problem has also teamed up with artists on the East Coast to sell these festive wreaths made from lobster fishing nets. Order this beautiful repurposed gift for your loved ones today on NYP’s website!