6 Eco-Friendly Gift Wrap Alternatives

‘Tis the season for gift giving! During the holidays, finding the right gift is only half the battle. Whether it’s a DIY, up cycled or store-bought gift, you’ve still got to find a way to wrap it up. For decades, we’ve relied on massive rolls of printed paper wrapping to hide our presents from prying eyes. Yet every year, it only takes a few seconds to unwrap a gift, and all that shredded paper heads off to the landfill. In the interest of reducing waste (over the holidays and every day), we decided to collect a variety of creative, more sustainable ways to wrap a holiday gift. Some are recycled, some are reusable, but all will allow you to enjoy a holiday that’s filled with fun, not waste.

Fabric ~ is the perfect reusable material for wrapping presents because it comes in lots of colors and patterns just like wrapping paper. In Japan, fabric wrapping is so prevalent; it’s become an art form. Called “furoshiki” this practice uses time-honored techniques to create a package that is both lovely and completely covered. Look around your house for festive pillow cases, sheets, tablecloths, old drapes, or even socks that are the right size for your gift.

Clay pots ~ come in all shapes and sizes and are relatively easy to find at gardening outlets. Think about decorating the outside of the pot with paint or markers before nestling your present inside. If the pot comes with a dish for catching water, simply invert the dish and use it as a lid to cover your gift. If no drip tray is available, set the pot in the center of a large square of fabric. Bring the edges up in a bundle over the top of the pot and secure with ribbon or elastic. Voila! A personalized gift package that can be reused in the summer time!

Newspaper ~Wrapping paper is just that: paper that’s been decorated to make a festive wrapping. When you think about it, there are lots of large sheets of paper available in our everyday lives. If you get the newspaper delivered to your house, think about saving up a week’s worth for your holiday wrapping needs (the Sunday morning comics make for the most colorful wrapping, but even classifieds will suffice!). You can also opt for paper bags at the grocery store, making sure not to crumple them too much on the way into the house. When it comes time to wrap, use scissors to cut up one seam of the bag. This will enable you to lay it flat like a single sheet of wrapping paper. Same thing for the newspaper, which already comes in conveniently trimmed rectangles. Stickers, crayon, paint, and glitter can be employed to jazz up the final product.

Maps and old calendars ~don’t have time to decorate your packages after the fact? No worries. Old maps and calendars are another source of relatively large sheets of paper that are already colorful in their own right. Since almost everyone in the world depends on Google to provide directions from point A to point B, there’s little chance that you’ll be searching for a paper map anytime soon. Calendars are only relevant for 365 days before becoming outdated forever but many have funny or beautiful images within. Instead of tossing these paper goods, keep them around as convenient wrapping for holiday and birthday gifts.

This creative information was supplied by inhabitat.com, a weblog devoted towards a smarter and more sustainable future. Image courtesy of roostinmadison.com

 

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