Police urge caution when disposing of Christmas gift packaging
Christmas has come and gone and Santa Claus has returned to the North Pole, leaving behind a load of goodies and the fancy packages they came in. Now comes the clean-up.
In an effort to avoid giving Grinches and thieves a sneak peek at your new Christmas gadgets and toys, local law enforcement is advising folks to use caution when disposing of the boxes and packaging they came in. Gulfport PD Sgt. Jason Ducre said, “The biggest piece of advice is to break your boxes down. Wait until an opportune time to put them in the trash. Don’t have them sitting out all week. Wait until recycling day. Wait until trash day then put your boxes out, your broken-down boxes. Again, this is a crime of opportunity and criminals are just looking for an opportunity to just break in houses. Make sure you’re just smart about it.”
Another option is to look for local cardboard recycling programs happening to help with your post-Christmas cleanup. The Harrison County Beautification Commission is holding their fourth annual Christmas Cardboard Recycling Event. Beautification Director Trey McKnight said, “We’re going to be setting up stations all across the county to collect cardboards on January 8th. This is a one-day event from 8 until 12. What it does is eliminates all that cardboard going into the landfill. We’ll load it up and send it to a Pensacola recycling center.”
Sgt. Ducre is reminding everyone that just because the Christmas holidays are over, doesn’t mean crime is. “They’re still going to break in. They’re still going to look for these crimes of opportunity. We go back to the pre-holiday tips. So, hide your valuables in your trunk.”
