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How to get rid of your post-holiday junk

Tips on recycling old electronics, appliances and Christmas trees
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ONE MAN'S TRASH The Nesters waste depot, pictured, is the place to take your old electronics this holiday season, while small household appliances can be taken to the Re-Use-It Centre in Function. photo by brandon barrett

The holidays are the season of giving, but for many of us, it's also the season of discarding.

So, if you stayed off Santa's naughty list this year, you're probably wondering what to do with all those old electronics and home appliances you don't want anymore.

"Electronics can go to the Nesters site bottle depot and they collect electronics in the form of stereos, computers and TVs," explained Pat Taylor with Carney's Waste Systems. (Regional Recycling actually takes care of electronics recycling in Whistler, but a representative was not available by deadline.)

For smaller household appliances, the Re-Use-It Centre in Function Junction is the place to go.

"A small appliance is anything with a plug-in that doesn't qualify as an electronic, so everything from blenders to electronic blankets to vacuum cleaners," Taylor added.

Both local waste depots will also be accepting Christmas trees until Jan. 15 at no charge. The municipality will chip all the discarded trees and ship them to the Callaghan compost facility.

Disposing of holiday gift-wrap is slightly more complicated; Multi-Material BC requires any foil-lined wrapping materials, like ribbon and bows, be separated from paper goods.

Be sure to remove any handles, metal grommets and foil decorations from gift bags before heading to the waste depot as well. Greeting cards should be included with paper recycling, although any electronic circuitry that plays audio should be removed beforehand.

For more information on what can and can't be recycled, visit recyclinginbc.ca/the-ins-and-outs-of-holiday-recycling.

Some other great resources to help you with recycling include the Recycling Council of B.C. (rcbc.bc.ca), the British Columbia Electronic Products Recycling Association (recyclemyelectronics.ca/bc) and Canadian Mattress Recycling (canadianmattressrecycling.com).