Reduce, reuse & recycle this Christmas!

Christmas is a special time of year – one to be celebrated! But, with any celebration, a lot of waste (including food waste) can really pile up! So, let’s turn it on its head this year and tread a little lighter on the planet. 

Read on for tips how you can reduce, reuse and recycle this Christmas. 

JUK Packaging:

JUK Recycle:

• Cardboard Boxes:  
  These are super simple to recycle! Rip off the tape, flatten and pop these in your kerbside recycling bin.
  
  
• Meal trays:
  JUK meals (excluding our family-sizes) are packaged in BioPak packaging. This is made from sugar cane fibre and is compostable. Pop these in your home compost or use a compost collection service to collect. Your neighbour might even have one! Add the cardboard sleeve to your normal kerbside recycling bin on collection day.

JUK Reuse:

• JUK cooler bag:
  Your summer holiday’s new best friend! Our JUK cooler bags are the perfect item to keep your picnic food and drinks cool. It’s the JUK item that’ll keep on giving, long after the meals are finished!
  
  
• JUK ice packs:
  Keep these in the freezer and pop them back in your JUK cooler bag when you need.
  
  
• Woolcool:
  For rural addresses and those outside of Auckland, your JUK delivery will include Woolcool (this wraps around your JUK cooler bag). This is a natural, sustainable insulator made out of sheep’s wool. It is totally compostable and biodegradable, releasing valuable nitrates back into the soil. Remove the food grade film and pop this into your nearest Supermarket’s soft plastic recycling bin (check again for your nearest bin). Add the wool to your garden or compost. You could also reuse it when you send any perishable items to a friend. To find out more follow the link here

• Family-size meal trays: Our family-size meals come in food grade aluminium trays. When you’ve finished the meal, give it a good wash, and reuse it – they’re the perfect size for roasting a tray of root vegetables.

Other Packaging & Food Waste

Reduce:

Packaging & Wrapping:

• Jazz up old wrapping:
  Instead of wrapping presents with new paper this year – why not see what you have around the house. Jazz up some newspapers or old magazines and wrap them in this. Or, expertly fold them up in any fabric scraps you might have. Secure with brown string or leftover ribbon (no cellotape needed!).
  
  
• Beeswax wraps:
  These are the perfect Christmas present – why not add this to your lucky giftee’s loot and use this instead to wrap small items.

Food waste:

• Catering & Christmas Hampers:
  We’ve all been guilty to over–cater at Christmas time. So, before you shop, ask a friend or family member who is a catering expert. They can give you advice on numbers and what you need. Or, of course let JUK cater! For Christmas dinner or lunch, our JUK hampers come in perfectly sized portions for small or large groups. To find out more follow the link here.

JUK Festive Feast

Re-cycle:

Packaging:

Any online or in-store shopping, food included, is commonly excessively wrapped and shipped in oversized boxes (not ours!). Cardboard and glass are easy to recycle but plastic is a minefield for most people. Read on.

• Hard Plastics:
  Check for the number or recycling code on the packaging and find out whether it is recyclable in your area. Different councils recycle different types of plastic packaging – to find out what is possible in your area visit co.nz and choose your local council. *In general, recycling codes #1 and #2 is recyclable nationwide. Auckland Council recycles plastics with codes #1 – #5.
  
  
• Soft plastics:
  These are the kinds of plastic that sliced bread, bags of pre-washed greens or crackers come in. This includes courier bags and bubble wrap that are common at Christmas time! Google your local supermarket or wholefoods store ­– they have drop-off bins where they will recycle these. Remember to wash them first if they are dirty. 
  
  
• Wrapping paper:
  Any ripped wrapping paper can be recycled – pop it in your kerbside recycling bin or in the cardboard or paper bin.

Re-use:

Packaging:

For any Christmas packaging that is not possible to recycle in your area, think about how you could use it in other ways. Lots of jars and containers are perfect for storing left-over soup or stock in the freezer. 

• Soft plastics:
  To re-use soft plastics, you could slice up bread loaves about to go stale and put them in the freezer in bags, ready to pop in the toaster. Just give them a rinse, wash and hang them up to dry before re-using. *It is not advised to re-use any plastics or containers that contained raw meat.
  
  
• Bubble wrap:
  Re-use this next time you need to send a fragile gift or package to a friend. It is also recyclable in soft plastic recycling bins.
  
  
• Courier boxes / bags:
  For all your present boxes and bags, save these to use again. Just rip off the label or simply cover with the new one.
  
  
• Paper gift wrapping:
  Fold up any wrapping paper carefully and save your ribbons and string to use for any upcoming birthdays orcelebrations. Or, next Christmas (there’s always another!)

Food:

• Leftovers!
  There are so many ways to jazz up leftovers! So, get creative before throwing out any Christmas catering that’s still fine to eat.
  
  
• Composting:
  It’s easier than you think! If you find yourself with lots of food waste this Christmas, and you’ve exhausted ways to reuse or give it away, the kindest way to dispose of it is by composting it. There are plenty of community gardens and compost collection services so there’s no real excuse! Your neighbours might even have a compost bin! In the Auckland region, We Compost, is a popular compost and waste collection service: https://wecompost.co.nz/

Hopefully we’ve provided some great tips for you and your family to reduce, reuse and recycle this Christmas. If you need more information on JUK packaging or have any other queries please email us on hello@juk.co.nz – we’ll be happy to help!