A family we knew loved to decorate for Christmas every year by putting up trees, lights, wreaths, and figurines all over the front yard. They would start decorating in November and it would all come down in January. They had several different way of sorting the trash from the decorations. They also had trash from the hot chocolate, tea, and sodas they would serve every night to people coming round to look at their house. The plastic cups and soda bottles would all go into their own recycling container. There were also the aluminum cans that went into a special concrete recycling container they had set up near the garage. There were glass recycling bins for light bulbs and other ornaments that had broken. All boxes that were left over went into their own recycling container as well. Tinsel that is metallic can be placed in the metal recycling bin.
Concrete benches were put around the yard to help the plastic figures stand up when filled with air. There were also some concrete statues of Mary over by the nativity scene. There was also some outdoor seating so older folks could sit down and look for a while or just take a short rest before going back home. There were other concrete benches set up around each tree to help hold even more decorations such as shorter trees or statues.
The paper recycling bin would always usually be full by the time clean up was finished. They would put all the holiday wrapping in the recycling container along with the gift wrapping. They also had the packing peanuts to steady or protect fragile gifts. These could be reused in the planters as drainage helpers.
Making compost with grass, leaves, weeds, or newspapers can be another way to recycle. These can be placed in the back of the yard somewhere or in the yard planter. Newspapers if you don’t use them should be tossed in the paper recycling bin.
Recycling Christmas trees could be done several ways. Cutting up the pine and using it for mulch in their many outside planters was one way or just wrapping the tree up so it could be taken to the recycling center was another way. You could take the tree and replant it in your yard so it could continue growing. You could also take the pine needles and mix them with some cinnamon and cloves to save for a nice scent in the future. Some people will up end the tree into their fish pond. This provides some food and a hiding place for the fish. You can even add some berries or popcorn to it for other wild animals.
When you think about concrete site furnishing around your house for Christmas decorating, think in terms of what you can use that will enable you to accomplish the most. Concrete furniture is nice in that it is hard to knock over and will be sturdy for years to come. This is the great thing about outside concrete furnishings. They can be used over and over and weather doesn’t hurt them. After the decorations are down, they can be used to sit out in the yard on a cool spring day. You could use a concrete picnic table to have a cookout during the summertime. There is no end to the uses you could get out of this type of outside furniture.
