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Create memories, not garbage this season: Regional District of Central Okanagan

The holiday season will look different this year, so get creative
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(Pixabay)

It’s time to get creative and look for other ways to celebrate this holiday season.

The Regional District of Central Okanagan (RDCO) is launching its Create Memories, Not Garbage campaign, which has a variety of ideas to help families walk through making thoughtful decisions about shopping, shipping, packaging gifts, cooking, decorations and others.

RDCO waste reduction facilitator Cynthia coats said the campaign idea came from their Metro Vancouver partners.

“It’s a festive, fun, resource-friendly campaign providing some great gift and wrapping ideas that people may not have thought of,” she said.

Instead of buying and giving things, the campaign suggests giving loved ones the gift of experience instead.

“Start a hobby with a loved one, re-gift a favourite novel or board game, give online art classes.”

Other ideas include organizing a winter hike with your family bubble, singing up a loved one for an online cooking class or an online theatre show, as well as making homemade treats for friends and neighbours.

“Thoughtful gift-giving can dramatically reduce the amount of packaging and wrapping that accumulates and can encourage opportunities for us to create new holiday traditions,” according to the RDCO.

COVID-19 has changed people’s gift-buying habits, with more people shopping online and getting the items shipped home. The RDCO is advising people to be aware of the shipping materials their presents come in.

“If the shipping materials that arrive on your doorstep can’t be reused, they can likely still be recycled.”

For more information on the campaign, as well as for more low-waste gift-giving ideas, visit the RDCO’s site.

READ: Environment Canada predicts warmer than average winter for Interior this winter


Twila Amato
Video journalist, Black Press Okanagan
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Twila Amato

About the Author: Twila Amato

Twila was a radio reporter based in northern Vancouver Island. She won the Jack Webster Student Journalism Award while at BCIT and received a degree in ancient and modern Greek history from McGill University.
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