Celebrate it's Party Time Composting

12 Days of HOTBIN Composting

"Rocking Around the Christmas Tree"

Christmas and New Year are most definitely “the” party Season.

So you’re expecting a fun evening with a house full of guests; preparations include adorning the table with delicious nibbles, crackers and a selection of party poppers whilst the music is prepared and the paper chains go up along with other decorations.

Whether Christmas or New Year your carpets or tables by the end of the evening will almost certainly be littered with discarded crackers, leftover food, party hats and endless amounts of streamers after the celebrations.  

Although it might take a while to collect/vacuum it all up the next day, the good news is that it needn’t all go to straight to landfill!

The contents of crackers are usually discarded at the end of an evening, however the good news is that the paper based crackers and hats inside can be ripped up and added to the HOTBIN along with the contents of those endless streams of party poppers. Any unwanted cracker gifts should be reused, re-gifted (we’ve all done it) or recycled in appropriate collection boxes. Be sure to remove any plastic bits or wire embellishments as these cannot be composted though.

If your paper chains have seen better days and have been rendered unusable for next year, rip these up and add to the HOTBIN – remembering to give it a good mix of course. As for leftover food , all cooked food, fruit, vegetables, fish, meat and  more can be added to the HOTBIN.

 

As for the paper plates many of us use for convenience to save on the washing up, these can go in the HOTBIN - even with the odd bit of food left on them!  Whether or not they are the most “green” choice initially is however something widely argued.

Serviettes can be composted in the HOTBIN, however ensure they are not screwed up in a big ball as this will not break down properly and may be present in your final compost. Rip them up instead and add in as small amounts to prevent airflow being restricted.

Those cocktail sticks from your sausages/cheese and pineapple? These can be broken up and also put into the HOTBIN, bear in mind that wood based items are slower to compost.

If most of it has ended up in the vacuum cleaner you may also want to read up on composting vacuum clear waste.

Happy partying!