It’s December 8, which means you’ve already started your holiday shopping. Here’s the big question: How are you going to wrap all those gifts? If you said metallic wrapping paper made in China, think again. Those papers are made using lots of toxic chemicals and, later on, cannot be be recycled.
The Eco Women are here to help with all kinds of earth-friendly options.
Look around your house. Is Sunday’s newspaper still lying on your coffee table? Use some of that to wrap your gifts. Finish things off with a colorful fabric ribbon.
Or, do you have some brown paper grocery bags? More free wrapping paper. Actually, any large sheets of paper will do — outdated maps, sheet music, and even your children’s art projects.
You probably already have some paper gift bags left over from last Christmas, so don’t forget to reuse those. If you don’t have any or need to buy more, use cloth gift bags. Recycla is a fan of Wrapsacks, which are festive cloth bags in a variety of sizes and colors.
Another simple idea is to forgo wrapping paper and just use plain boxes. Embellish them with great ribbons and you’re ready to go!
Or, wrap your gift with a gift — use a scarf or pillow cases or a basket.
What about using reusable cloth grocery bags and finishing them off with a festive bow? This year, Recycla will be giving some friends the Eco Women’s organic cotton tote bags filled with local organic gourmet goodies. (The Eco Women donate their profits to charity!)
If you really want to use pretty wrapping paper, try to use an eco alternative — check out Zola Goods, Sweet Organics & Naturals, and Fish Lips Paper Designs. These companies use vegetable inks, recycled papers, and earth-friendly manufacturing processes.
And of course, you can always carefully unwrap your gifts and save the paper to be used another time.
When labeling gifts, instead of buying tags, Recycla makes hers out of the previous year’s holiday cards.
To finish things off, Recycla suggests that you use fabric (satin, grosgrain, etc.) bows instead of plastic ones. They are much prettier, are not made of plastic, and can be reused countless times.
After all the gifts are unwrapped, what are you going to do with the mess?
Sort out what can be reused (gift bags, ribbons, etc.), what can be recycled, and what will be thrown away. Don’t crumple the trash! Why? Because it takes up more space when balled up, as opposed to neatly folded.
What about you Eco Warriors? What creative ways have you wrapped gifts?
The Eco Women are not employed by any of the companies mentioned in this post, nor were they paid to review these products.
Photo credits, top to bottom: Sweet Organics & Naturals, Wrap Sacks, the Eco Women, and Flickr — Carries Crafty.
We wrapped a present for my FIL in an old map of Milwaukee. He, a former bus driver, loved analyzing the map. “Hey, this street’s a dead end now!” and more.
Gotta love the ECOwomen bag but I also use dishtowels – they double as another gift. And, for friends who like to sew, I use fabric cutouts so they can stitch the edges and make placemats, aprons and napkins. I also use my kids art – I photocopy it and it becomes an additional present. Sometimes I stick a gift in a hat I’ve knitted – I love the two gifts in one idea without needless paper waste.