Eco-Friendly Gift Wrapping
Hopefully you have most of your holiday gifts or you have a plan. Now you might be thinking about putting on some Christmas tunes and making cookies or wrapping presents. I don't want to sound like the Grinch here but when it comes to celebrating we can be awful trashy. From Thanksgiving to New Year in general we create about 25% more trash- that's way too much. Be sure to save all gift bags and wrapping paper and reuse the next year. Your "junk" drawer has a treasure trove of wrapping and decorating goodies.
A few simple changes can make your holiday festive, thoughtful and eco-friendly. When it comes to wrapping gifts try not to buy wrapping paper- I know it's pretty but it ends up in the landfill. You can not recycle any paper that has glitter or is made from a metallic/foil base. Our handy list should give you lots of fun, quick and inexpensive ideas.
Wrapping Ideas
-paper bags
-newspaper
-scraps of fabric
-cloth napkin
-reusable bags, grocery and produce
-a scarf
-dishcloth
-hat, socks or mittens
-plain tissue paper
-cardboard box
-jars and tins
You can decorate plain paper, boxes and jars to your hearts content. It's a great family project. Buy a set of napkins- everyone needs a lunch box or car napkin for eating on the go. One set can wrap quite a lot of gifts.
Tying and Embelishing Ideas
-check that junk drawer for odd bits
-twine
-ribbon
-scraps of fabric cut into strips
-cords
-clothspins
-hair ties
-cut up holiday cards
-bits of evergreen
-ornamnets
-even old jewelry
One of my favorite wrapping ideas was decorating my adult daughter's gifts with all the old school ornaments she had made over the years, many with photos. It was so sentimental and sweet.
Try your best when unwrapping gifts to go slow and fold and tuck away all the bits of paper, ribbon and bags. Make sure everything is used more than one time. If during the holidays your trash is not much more than an average week you've given the planet a tremendous gift.
Cheers and happy sustainable holidays.