Holiday Clean Up Tips

The holidays are over and it's time to relax... NOT! Holiday aftermath is just as painful as setting all that stuff up, but we've got tips to make clean-up a breeze.

Since you don't want to spend more money on ornaments and decorations next year, you need to get it all safe and organized in storage.

Don't just throw perfectly good wrapping paper in the closet or attic and hope they don't get ruined. Hanging garment bags are great for holding the long rolls and keeping them out of harms way. The same thing that holds your fancy clothes can hold your fancy paper, and you can just hang it up in the closet.

Christmas lights are almost always a pain. You put them away as neatly as you can, but they magically become tangled and broken the next time you need them.

Shifty lights...

But, if you simply wrap the lights around a flat piece of cardboard the lights will make it to next holiday season tangle-free. Some lights actually come in the package with a similar strategy, and for good reason.

For extension cords, you should use a bit of a different tactic. To save more space, wrap the cord tight and slip it into a toilet/paper towel roll. If you do it right, the roll will keep the extension cord in order and ready for storage.

A lot of local cities and towns are also spreading the word about when to put out the tree, and what can be recycled or not.

New Bedford is encouraging people to put used wrapping paper, corrugated cardboard boxes, gift boxes, calendars, paper shopping bags, beverage cartons, and paper greeting cards in their regular recycling carts.

But, things like bows, ribbons, tissue paper, and packing material cannot be put in the cart. That includes styrofoam blocks, packing peanuts, and bubble-wrap. But these things can be recycled at the New Bedford Transfer Stations.

When it comes to getting rid of your Christmas trees, New Bedford residents can leave it outside the day AFTER their usual garbage pick-up day between Jan 12th and Jan 16th.

Dartmouth residents can put their trees out the same day as their usual trash day between Jan 5 and Jan 12, aka THIS WEEK!

It seems Fairhaven residents can just put their trees out whenever they like the next two weeks, and Fall River is asking people to put them out depending where you live. Check out the details on Fall River tree collecting here.