When it comes to wrapping your holiday gifts, you probably take the path of least resistance, purchasing a bundle of festive paper rolls and ribbons at Costco. But if you’re at all concerned about the waste that occurs with these non-recyclable paper options or you simply want to try something a bit more creative this year, you might be looking for alternatives to the standard wrappings that dominate the holiday market. Luckily, the sky is the limit when using your imagination to find interesting, inexpensive, and eco-friendly ways to wrap seasonal gifts. Here are a few cool tips and techniques you might want to take for a spin this year.
Recycled options.
There is no shortage of options online for finding recycled, sustainable, or otherwise eco-friendly gift wraps, bags, and ribbons galore, thanks to websites like Green Field Paper Company and Nashville Wraps, to name a couple. And lest you’re worried about ordering cast-offs, you should know that the paper products used are often 100% PCW (post-consumer waste), which means they’ve been remade from used paper products. They may even feature prints in soy-based ink, so when you’re done with your gift wrap, ribbons, and bows, they, too can be sent to the recycling center instead of the trash.
Reused options.
If you want to save some dough this year, consider taking a page from…well…any book in the house. Wrapping in newspapers can get messy, so instead, think about tearing pages from your monthly magazine subscriptions to use as gift wrap or use map pages from an old atlas. You can even grab paperbacks from the pile of books slated for donation and piece together a patchwork of pages to use as unique and eco-friendly wrapping paper. And if you’re really keen to get creative, cut strips of paper to use as ribbon and make some flower patterns for decorative florets.
Butcher paper.
You might not easily find rolls of recycled butcher paper, but this untreated product makes for a customizable wrapping option that is eminently recyclable after use. If you want to skip the flash of modern holiday wrap in favor of something more charmingly rustic, this brown packaging paper can be had for relatively little expense (a 50-foot roll could cost you less than ten bucks, depending on where you buy). And you can use stamps, stickers, glitter, graphics, and of course, the artistic talents of your kids to make custom wrapping paper for every gift. Then you add some twine and a few pinecones for flair. Or, if you want to get a bit fancy, head to the craft store for rolls of gorgeous velvet or satin ribbon (that recipients can reuse).
Reusable gift bags.
If you want to use gift wrap that keeps on giving, consider pulling out your sewing machine, buying some holiday fabric, and churning out reusable gift bags. You can make a variety of sizes for different gifts, and you’ll never again have to worry about the time and frustration involved with trying to wrap oddly shaped packages precisely. You cut a rectangle, sew it up like a pillow case, and fold a loop along the top to place a ribbon drawstring inside. You could even look for organic fabric if you want to get really green.
Adornments.
Even plain gift wrap can look amazing with the right adornments, and you’ll find no shortage of options at your local craft store or website. At the very least, you can get some ideas, but if you’ve spent enough time on the wrapping paper, you might want to purchase the finishing touches, especially if they’re high enough quality that they can be reused down the line.