Are you giving gifts this holiday season? Have you thought about how you will wrap them? Traditional wrapping paper is very wasteful as it takes a lot of resources to make and then gets chucked in a garbage bag and sent to the landfill each year. This year I challenge you to think outside of the box...think about the 3 R's (reduce, reuse, recycle) when wrapping this year. And even if you just choose 1 gift to wrap sustainably, you will be making a difference. Below are a few examples of sustainable gift wrap.
1.
Fabric Wrap: Do you have fabric laying around the house? Fabric makes perfect gift wrap as you can cover the gift in the fabric, then tie a nice bow on top with yarn or ribbon.
Play silks, an old blanket, scraps from an old project.
2.
Bags: A lot of people use bags nowadays when gift giving and this is a great idea. People are more likely going to keep a bag and reuse it than keep wrapping paper to reuse. You can use all kinds of bags from paper bags to fabric bags. Try wrapping in a cloth
produce or
grocery bag then the bag becomes part of the gift. If you receive a gift in a bag, be sure to keep that bag and reuse it!
3.
Go Without: Each year the girls get a gift from Santa that is not wrapped at all. They are still just as excited to receive the gift and don't mind at all that it isn't wrapped. Try not wrapping a few gifts this year!
4.
Use Recycled Paper: If you do use wrapping paper search out sustainable brands that make the paper from recycled materials. You can often find natural and beautiful looking paper...this is what we use for our gift wrap option in our shop.
5.
Reuse: Do you have any old magazines, coloring books, catalogs, or even maps lying around? Using old paper items is a great way to wrap presents.
Do you have any ideas for sustainable gift wrap?
Can you commit to wrapping at least 1 gift sustainably this year? Join the challenge and let's make a difference together!
*OSC stands for One Small Change...our one small change project is our effort to encourage others to make one small green change at a time for our planet. Each week I write 1 post with ideas, inspiration, and encouragement to help you along this journey of living a more sustainable life. Won't you join us in making One Small Change at a time to create a better Earth for everyone! To read more One Small Change posts, please visit here.
OSC: Gift Wrapping Sustainably
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Count me in! We sew gift bags every year, and our family is starting to catch on and actually re-use the bags.
ReplyDeleteGreat ideas! We've used bags a long time in our family, they last year after year & get passed around. We also use coloring book pages, & one siblings gifts are always in the comics from the newspaper. This year though I decided to start adding fabric bags & wrapping into our mix. I think it'll grow every year & when the paper bags wear out that our family passes around we'll have the fabric ones already to replace them. Love sustainable wrapping! It's as much a tradition as triming the tree!
ReplyDeleteCount me in:)This is an awesome post!!!
ReplyDeleteI found simple holiday Bandanas at my local craft store. They had an antique old time Christmas theme, they look lovely with a pretty plaid ribbon. Or, have the girls finger knit a nice red rope. ~ Barefoot Mama
Absolutely! Last year I wrapped some gifts in reusable grocery bags. Thanks for the ideas you mentioned. Looking forward to getting creative with the wrapping this year!
ReplyDelete