Give an experience and cut down waste with King County's Waste Free Holidays

Each year, Americans generate more than five million extra tons of trash between Thanksgiving and New Years Day.

King County offers consumers a perfect solution to cut down on this burgeoning mountain of garbage: Give an "experience" gift to those on your holiday list, and you’ll not only be doing your part to reduce waste, you’ll be saving some cash, too.

Back for its 11th year, the"Waste Free Holidays" promotion, sponsored by King County Solid Waste Division and Seattle Public Utilities, is loaded with unique gift-giving ideas. Beginning today and running through Dec. 31, more than 120 partners are offering special discounts of 15 to 50 percent for everything from dinners to theater tickets, spa treatments and weekend getaways.

"The statistics are pretty amazing when it comes to how many holiday gifts go unopened and unused," said Tom Watson, King County's Waste Free Holidays project manager. "More than half of respondents in a recent survey said they received a gift the previous December that they hadn’t yet used, or had thrown away. One third of respondents said they had thrown a holiday present straight into the garbage.

"A gift certificate to a book shop, museum or sporting event is much more likely to be used, rather than thrown away," Watson said.

Here's how the program works: Each participating business offers an experience gift at a discount of 15 percent or more. Purchases at the discounted price can be made through Dec. 31 by contacting the partners directly. Details on all the offers and the participating partners are posted at www.wastefreeholidays.com. This Web site also includes information on the Waste Free Holidays programs offered by the City of Tacoma, Kitsap County and Thurston County.

The holidays are prime time for consumption. Americans throw away 25 percent more trash during the Thanksgiving to New Year's holiday period. The added food waste, shopping bags, packaging, wrapping paper, bows and ribbons adds up to an additional 1 million tons a week to the nation's waste stream.

King County's Waste Free Holidays encourages residents to think about the environment while shopping this holiday season. For more information, visit www.wastefreeholidays.com, or contact Watson at 206-296-4481 or tom.watson@kingcounty.gov.