During the holiday season, the average American family disposes of 25% more trash than they usually do, according to data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Think about your household: could some of this trash be reduced, reused, recycled or composted? When residents reduce their holiday trash quantities, they can save money on “Pay As You Throw” town trash stickers or bags, reduce carbon and methane emissions, and protect the environment.

Recycling yes/no

The following paper items are on the “yes” list for household recycling: wrapping paper, gift bags, tissue paper and paper greeting cards/envelopes. However, do not recycle these paper items if they contain metallic inks, glitter or foil (for example, foil-lined envelopes). Tape and labels are acceptable for recycling. Remove batteries from singing greeting cards before recycling the card.

Other recyclable paper items include catalogs, calendars, paper shopping bags and cardboard (corrugated and paperboard).

These items are on the “no” list for household recycling: ribbons, bows, tinsel, glossy photo cards, holiday light strings, Christmas tree netting, bubble wrap, paper envelopes lined with bubble wrap, packing peanuts, Styrofoam in any form, plastic shipping envelopes or the molded plastic used to package toys, electronics, etc.

Some of these items, called “tanglers,” are not acceptable in municipal recycling programs because they get wrapped around and tangled in the sorting equipment at recycling facilities.

Recyclables from Franklin County towns are processed at the Springfield Materials Recycling Facility. For printable recycling guides, including a colorful yes/no holiday recycling guide, visit the facility’s website (springfieldmrf.org) and click on What’s Recyclable.

Recycling options for other materials

Holiday light strings and power cords are accepted for recycling at scrap metal dealers and in the scrap metal dumpsters at town transfer stations. In addition, a mail-in recycling program is available at holidayleds.com.

Pack and ship stores — for example, the UPS Store in Greenfield — accept clean, dry packing materials such as bubble wrap, packing peanuts and inflatable packaging for reuse.

Plastic bag recycling programs at grocery and retail stores accept bubble wrap, plastic shipping envelopes (no paper), inflatable packaging, and other bags/films marked No. 2 or No. 4. A list of acceptable items can be found online at nextrex.com/view/educate#materials1.

Certain batteries (rechargeable, button and lithium) are accepted for special recycling at transfer stations; place these batteries in a bag or container and hand them to the attendant.

When the holidays are over, check with the town about Christmas tree recycling. The tree may be recycled as mulch this spring.

Creative reuse

In addition to recycling, consider wrapping gifts in reused materials. Gifts can be creatively wrapped in reused wrapping paper, old calendar pages, sheet music, maps or map book pages, paper bags, old posters, wallpaper scraps, fabric, scarves, newspaper, comics or kids’ artwork.

Gifts can be wrapped in cloth bags, reusable decorative tins, reusable shopping bags or baskets. Or make the wrapping part of the gift; for example, a kitchen towel or oven mitt to hold kitchen utensils or gadgets, or a book wrapped in a scarf.

Wrapped gifts can be tied up with twine and adorned with natural items such as pine cones, pine or holly branches, shells or buttons. Last year’s holiday cards can be cut up to reuse as beautiful gift cards.

One of the most important steps for reusing materials is unwrapping gifts carefully and saving gift wrap, gift boxes, ribbons, bows and gift bags for reuse next year.

For a fun craft activity with children, this online tutorial from Tori Avey shows how to make Hanukkah gift wrap with homemade potato stamps: toriavey.com/homemade-hanukkah-wrapping-paper. Grab some reused paper bags, a couple of potatoes, and some acrylic paint or stamp pads. Cut the bag along the side and bottom to make one big sheet. Cut the potatoes in half and (adults) carve your favorite holiday shapes into the flat potato surface or use cookie cutters to press shapes into the half-inch potato slices. When done, cut off the painted parts of the potato and compost the rest.

Compost

Another way to reduce holiday trash is to compost food and paper waste generated from holiday meals. Food scraps might seem small, but they add up: waste characterization studies performed by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection show that 22% of the residential trash in Massachusetts is food waste.

Municipal compost programs accept all types of solid food waste, including meat, bones, cheese, plus paper waste such as paper napkins, paper towels and more. Unacceptable items include liquids, foil, metal, glass and plastic.

These programs that accept compostable material are free of charge, but transfer stations may require access permits or entrance fees. The following transfer stations in Franklin County have compost programs: Bernardston, Charlemont, Colrain, Conway, Deerfield, Greenfield (open to non-residents for a $5 host fee), Leverett, Montague, New Salem, Northfield, Orange, Shelburne, Warwick, Wendell and Whately.

The Franklin County Solid Waste Management District sells discounted Earth Machine home compost bins and pails to district residents. Pricing is $25 or $65 depending on the resident’s town. It is not recommended to put meat, bones or dairy in home compost bins. For more details and pricing, contact the solid waste district at 413-772-2438 or info@franklincountywastedistrict.org, or visit franklincountywastedistrict.org/Composting.

Amy Donovan is program director with the Franklin County Solid Waste Management District.