The holiday season is in full swing all over Ogle County as residents and businesses are decorating and preparing for all of the festivities that lie ahead.

The holiday season, with all of the celebrating, also comes with a large increase in the waste produced.

Take some steps this holiday season to go green and have a more waste-free holiday experience. Choose from some of the ideas below to go green this holiday season and reduce our waste footprint:

• When deciding on gifts, choose a gift of experience, gift cards or certificates if possible. These gifts are truly enjoyable for the recipient and require very little packaging, no shipping, and very little gift wrap, and will not become a burden to the recipient when the item has lost its use or value and would be disposed of.
• When entertaining, plan meals accordingly and plan for how to distribute the leftovers to your guests, or ask them to bring a reusable container for leftovers to take home. Skip the disposable plates and utensils and use washable and reusable items to avoid excess waste. There’s some extra work with doing the dishes, but very well worth it to avoid single use items.
• When preparing the house for the holidays, many people clean and have many items that are no longer wanted. Consider taking all of your gently used, but still useful items, to a local resale shop or another outlet that accepts donations. Doing so helps those in need and gives items another life as opposed to final disposal in a landfill.
• When shopping, shop local first to help local businesses, avoid longer drives, and avoid excess packaging from purchasing items online. Bring reusable shopping bags and consider gifts that last and have real value to the recipient.
• When wrapping gifts, avoid excess paper and trim and consider reusable gift bags or other creative gift wrap. The excess ribbons, bows and other trim is not recycled and ends up for final disposal, creating additional waste. Save gift boxes for reuse next year if possible, and try to recycle boxes from packaging and gifts. Remember to flatten boxes and keep them clean and dry for efficient recycling of these items.
• Remember the 10 county locations to recycle your holiday light strands, located at fire stations in Mt. Morris, Byron, Rochelle and Stillman Valley, and at village halls in Forreston, Polo, Creston and Davis Junction. There are also containers at the old courthouse and at the county offices located at 909 Pines Road.

Finally, starting Dec. 26, there will once again be several drop-off locations around the county for your live tree so it can be recycled into usable mulch, and there will once again be pick- up service available in Oregon, Mt. Morris, Byron, Polo and the Forreston areas courtesy of the local FFA groups on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026.

For more information on waste reduction and recycling in Ogle County, visit the county website and utilize the RecycleCoach widget, call 815-732-4020, or see OCSWMD on Facebook at Ogle County Solid Waste Management Dept.