How to Reduce and Recycle Holiday Packaging Materials

The holiday shopping surge means more boxes, more plastic mailers, and more waste. These easy tips will help you celebrate sustainably without sacrificing the joy of giving.

This holiday season, the waste forecast isn’t great: an estimated 2.3 billion packages will be shipped across the US—about seven deliveries per person on average. Those boxes, plastic mailers, padded envelopes, and layers of packing material add up fast. And when packages travel long distances, the energy, natural resources, and emissions required to manufacture, package, and transport them take a real toll on our planet.

This year, show your love without piling up waste and environmental impacts by following a few easy tips:

1. Shop Local First

One of the easiest ways to avoid all that packaging is to skip the online cart and shop right here at home.

→ Visit craft fairs and makers markets.
Handmade goods = gifts with minimal waste and a lot of heart.

→ Choose reuse with local thrift and secondhand stores.
You can find many “like new” products at far more affordable prices.

→ Give gift certificates for experiences.
Local restaurants, theaters, and music venues offer experiences—not packaging.

2. Return Less, Waste Less

Online retailers make returns easy—but the environmental cost is huge. About one in every five or six online purchases gets sent back during the holidays. Shipping those items to and from warehouses often costs more than the product itself.

What happens then? Often, it’s not worth it for retailers to inspect, repackage, and restock those items. Many returns end up thrown away or sold in bulk to secondary markets like discount stores and flea markets.

To cut waste and emissions from extra transportation, buy thoughtfully. Choose quality gifts from reputable stores, and only purchase items you’re confident will be loved.

3. Recycle the Packaging You Do Get

Some packaging can go into your curbside bin, and some can be recycled at the Eco-Cycle/City of Boulder Center for Hard-to-Recycle Materials (CHaRM). Here’s how to sort it:

In your curbside recycling bin, recycle:

Cardboard boxes & paperboard envelopes
Paper packing sheets
White or light-colored envelopes
Dark or bright-colored envelopes that, when torn, are white inside
Plain paper envelopes mailers
Paper envelopes with paper fiber padding

Take to the Eco-Cycle/City of Boulder Center for Hard-to-Recycle Materials (CHaRM):

Plastic packing pillows
Bubble wrap & thin flexible foam
Rigid white block foam
Mailers made entirely from plastic

The following items are not recyclable. Please put these in the trash:

Multi-material mailers (paper + plastic, etc.)
Plastic or foam packaging peanuts* (though some packaging stores will take these for reuse)
Foil or metallic mailers
Bright or dark-colored envelopes that, when torn, the paper fibers inside are dyed all the way through

* Tip: Some packaging peanuts are made from cornstarch. If they dissolve with water, they’re compostable in your backyard bin.

Check out Eco-Cycle’s Packaging & Mailers Guidelines for a printable guide of what packaging goes where.

4. Choose Zero-Waste Wrapping

Traditional wrapping paper is difficult to recycle—it’s more clay, ash, and inks than recoverable paper fiber.

Instead, choose:

Reusable gift bags
Kraft paper wrapping paper—it’s highly recyclable
Repurposed newspaper, calendars, or kraft grocery bags (turn them inside-out and decorate the blank side)
Recycled-content wrapping paper without glitter or embossing

Skip these non-recyclable gift wrap options:

Glitter, foil, metallic, or heavily dyed paper

Give More, Waste Less

There are countless ways to celebrate the season without the trash. Explore Eco-Cycle’s Zero Waste Holiday Guide for more ideas that keep the joy—and cut the waste!