Did you know that during the holiday season 25 percent more trash is generated than normal? Here are easy ways for you to minimize waste and do the right thing for the environment and your community. Here are the Top 10 holiday recycling reminders:

1.               Reuse tissue paper and gift bags. You can recycle most wrapping paper (except foil paper) and cardboard tubes.

2.               Recycle all boxes from online shopping. Please break them down before putting them in your blue bin.

3.               Items that are definitely not recyclable: ribbon, bows, twine, light strings, and turkey and ham mesh wrappers.

4.               Rinse out your recyclable aluminum cans and bottles. If there is food residue in them, they are contaminated.

5.               Recycle your real Christmas tree. Tempe offers Christmas tree recycling through Jan. 31 at the Compost Yard. Or put it on your green organics pile for collection. Donate your unwanted artificial Christmas tree.

6.               Donate old bikes to Tempe’s Recycle-a-Bicycle program at Gililland Middle School. For details, visit tempe.gov/RecycleaBicycle.

7.               Donate old items that you no longer want after Christmas, rather than throwing them away.

8.               Make sure you recycle all those empty bottles and cans from holiday entertaining. Glass and aluminum can be recycled again and again.

9.               Holiday cooking can create significant grease. Residents can drop off used grease through early January at four Tempe locations. Visit tempe.gov/fog for more information.

10.            Never use your blue recycling bin as an extra trash bin. If you have extra trash, call Tempe 311 at 480-350-4311 for an additional trash pickup.