...to feel sad that MIL has wrapped presents in glitter paper?

[somehowsunshine]

Can't recycle it. She knows we try really hard to recycle. We are always finding recyclable plastic in her general waste bin. My DH and I will have to bite our tongues on Xmas day as we scrunch the glitter paper into the bin. I know my husband will want to say something but it will make MIL feel bad and make us look ungrateful. I can't stand glitter!

🤣🤣🤣

@DisforDarkChocolate

Having bought glitter wrapping paper once I'm laughing at the idea 'it's just one day'. I was still finding flecking glitter when we moved house two years later.

This is the bigger problem. Glitter gets everywhere!

Get a grip. You could reuse it. Not everybody holds the same opinions or values as you. And that is OK.

[quote ItIsntWhatYouThinkItIs]**@PuzzledObserver* Are you serious? The planet is massively, massively over-populated. It will never, ever die out. Shmithecat2* has a point. If the OP and her nutjob eco terrorist husband were genuine, they would never had reproduced. Having children is far worse for the planet than some harmless glitter. The hypocrisy is palpable.[/quote]
The planet isn't over populated and there are plenty of resources for everyone. The issue is a small portion of the world's population causing most of the (soon to be irreversible) damage to the environment.

Killing everyone would indeed save the planet but how about we don't and all live in harmony with it? Very easily done as long as we don't worry about the mind boggling profits of the very few. I mean you know you have too much money when you have willy waving competitions of joy riding into space.

@somehowsunshine

DH tends to look through the top of his mums bin when we're round, and usually pulls out 5 or 6 plastic items or cans that can be recycled. Mil can't be bothered which really pisses us off! He does it to make a point of how much she must throw into landfill instead of recycling

Just out of interest, what plastic do you consider to be recyclable- ones that say “ may be recycled “ or do you actually look at the numbers in the triangle ? And what do you do with solid coloured plastic ?

This saves on the wastefulness of having to wash out the wheelie bin.

I never understood the washing of wheelie bins.. they're bins - why would you wash them?

and, well, it's water, yes, the UK is woefully useless at keeping it anywhere useful in sufficient quantities, but it's really not going anywhere permanently, it's endlessly recycled (as I'm sure most people were taught at primary school) - you really can't 'waste' it.

To be honest, as I live with Mr. Environmentalist, we hardly use any wrapping paper at all at this point. Almost all presents are "wrapped" in reusable cloth Christmas bags. It is much easier than wrapping, it is very pretty, and no trash.We also use cloth napkins and rags instead of paper towels, so we use few paper towels. We still use toilet paper though! But I am still happy to receive presents no matter how they are wrapped.

Yep, it's wasteful but sometimes it's better to lead by example, try to do the best you can yourself instead of running around like a paragon of virtue.
Get over it. She didn't do it on purpose, probably isn't aware of the issues.
Few years ago, a Mom of a little mindee that my childminder also minded at the time gave a present to my daughter. She was keen to recycle too and used newspapers and glossy magazines to wrap the presents, probably in haste, because my DD who must have been 8 or 9 at the time got her present wrapped in some Closer or whatever crap with a very visible headline "My boyfriend wants me to pretend I'm dead when we're having sex."
We almost died laughing when we saw it, we still snigger when we remember that. Poor woman was scarlet when she was told.

@EerieSilence

Yep, it's wasteful but sometimes it's better to lead by example, try to do the best you can yourself instead of running around like a paragon of virtue. Get over it. She didn't do it on purpose, probably isn't aware of the issues. Few years ago, a Mom of a little mindee that my childminder also minded at the time gave a present to my daughter. She was keen to recycle too and used newspapers and glossy magazines to wrap the presents, probably in haste, because my DD who must have been 8 or 9 at the time got her present wrapped in some Closer or whatever crap with a very visible headline "My boyfriend wants me to pretend I'm dead when we're having sex." We almost died laughing when we saw it, we still snigger when we remember that. Poor woman was scarlet when she was told.

That has really cheered me up today , thank you!

On MN you are literally not allowed to have an opinion on the environment if you have children.

To be honest, as I live with Mr. Environmentalist, we hardly use any wrapping paper at all at this point. Almost all presents are "wrapped" in reusable cloth Christmas bags

Just to check - do you take them back to re-use next year? Or do you hope the people you gifted them to re-use them? Because I have to say, I would have limited use for a Christmas-present sized, Christmas-themed bag, and thus you'd have created more waste, used more energy, higher transportation costs by giving me and my kids presents in them than just using light-weight wrapping paper.

And I already have plenty of actually shopping sized re-useable bags, so really don't need more, let alone chrismas themed anyway.

I think some things need to be approached holistically/realistically, and standard wrapping paper really isn't a bad guy

@Heepers

On MN you are literally not allowed to have an opinion on the environment if you have children.

There's a difference between having an opinion and raiding someone's bin

When I was a kid (40 years ago!) we always took wrapping paper off carefully and re-used it. There was much horror, pearl clutching and summoning of a policeman if any of us dared to carelessly rip paper off a present! And if it genuinely couldn't be removed in such a way to reuse it, it was still saved and used for making cards or decorations the next year... or was donated to the church, school, brownies... whatever. Everything got reused - and that was long before anyone had even heard of a recycling bin.

I grew up with a grandmother who had been through 2 wars - she wasted nothing and we were taught the same. Again - no recycling bin!

If you're that passionate about recycling that you feel justified in raiding your MIL's bin, I'm baffled how it hasn't occurred to you that recycling actually starts with reusing items such as this. I can think of many uses for it right off the top of my head.

I'm not a fan of glitter as such, but y'know what, it's Christmas and there is enough sadness and pain in the world right now without getting all bent out of shape over some glittery wrapping paper around a gift that your MIL has no doubt lovingly chosen for you, and paper that, despite your claims, can absolutely be recycled in many ways that don't involve different coloured bins.

@Heepers

On MN you are literally not allowed to have an opinion on the environment if you have children.

You absolutely are allowed an opinion. However, expect to be called out it when you're criticising other people's environmentally unfriendly choices.

Another Mumsnet pile-on at it's finest.

This site has become so horrible.

OP, have some and from me.

I actually agree with you.
I have a mil that’s writes gushy messages on the actual gift bag (not just the tag) to our ds who isn’t old enough to read anyway. Meaning the gift bag has to go in the bin and can’t be re used.

It’s a terrible shame nice things haven’t yet been prohibited. But surely you are carefully folding and saving this year’s paper for next year aren’t you??! If you are planning to dispose of it after only one year, could you not get a chisel and scrape all the glitter off to be safely repurposed?

If you were that bothered about the environment you wouldn't have had kids. Don't lecture other people about recycling when you've done the most environmentally damaging thing you can do.

@somehowsunshine

DH tends to look through the top of his mums bin when we're round, and usually pulls out 5 or 6 plastic items or cans that can be recycled. Mil can't be bothered which really pisses us off! He does it to make a point of how much she must throw into landfill instead of recycling.

This isn't really normal though is if.

@Takemedown

If you were that bothered about the environment you wouldn't have had kids. Don't lecture other people about recycling when you've done the most environmentally damaging thing you can do.

This is a pathetic argument! That's like saying if you don't give up all meat there's no point giving up chicken, or something similarly stupid. We need children. In the UK particular there is a need! Completely off topic.

OP now look, going through someone’s bin is absolutely unacceptable, weird and rude.

Furthermore some councils have said that this year, they will accept no wrapping paper for recycling, even if it is the fully recyclable stuff. This is because too much wrapping paper has not just glitter but other non recyclable stuff in it and they don’t want to risk contaminating the entire load of paper. In my area we have been directed to put all wrapping paper in the non recycle waste.

Get out of here

Op do you have a car? Ever travel by plane? Put the heating on?

@somehowsunshine

DH tends to look through the top of his mums bin when we're round, and usually pulls out 5 or 6 plastic items or cans that can be recycled. Mil can't be bothered which really pisses us off! He does it to make a point of how much she must throw into landfill instead of recycling.

Crikey

Or get the kids to cut the tape carefully then reuse the paper.