Each January the amount of cardboard collected rises, seeing as much as an extra 682 tonnes – a whopping 44% increase.  This rise not only means more waste to recycle, but it fills the trucks more quickly meaning extra trips to the depot, adding to every parcel’s overall carbon footprint.

As the festive season nears, Somerset Council is asking shoppers if they could cut the card to help the planet and the Somerset economy?

·                     Buy gifts that don’t need boxes – vouchers for restaurants, attractions or pampering treatments; subscriptions for a streaming service; or memberships for trusts or clubs.

·                     Go off-line – shop on the High Street and cut out the extra packaging that comes with online delivery.

·                     Shop on-line but local – local retailers can often deliver to your door and they tend to use less packaging than the big multi-nationals.

Separating your recycling at the kerb is the best way to make sure it gets properly recycled and recycled close to home. Last year 97% of Somerset’s recycling stayed in the UK thanks to kerbside sorting.