Low-waste Wrapping Paper [Week 35]
Amanda Drews
Whatever kind of present you have to give, here’s your guide to low-waste present wrapping.
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Reduce
OK, in the first place….nobody cares if you spent 20 minutes wrapping their present. It’s the harsh truth but it has to be said. Your kids only care that there’s a present underneath. Your friend only cares that you were kind enough to think of them. But I do appreciate a well wrapped present and I recognize that some people (not me) love wrapping presents and find joy in preparing the gift they’ve found.
That being said, if you don’t wrap a gift, my bet is the person receiving it will still be as overjoyed and as if it were wrapped. My father-in-law has a 20 second wrapping rule. That’s the maximum amount of time he will ever spend wrapping a present! It sometimes turns into a spectacle but in a hilarious way that makes the present even better.
Overall, reducing is always our first step in waste reduction. So use what you have already before you look into buying new products. It’s ok if you have shiny or glittery wrapping paper that needs to be used. Use it! It’s going to do no good just sitting in storage in your house just because you can’t recycle it. Use it and choose better next time.
Reuse
One of the best home organizing decisions I feel like I’ve made is having a present station that I created when we got married. All the tissue paper, bows, bags and ribbons from presents we’ve received from our wedding, baby showers, birthdays and everything in between goes into that station. Yes, I’m the one at every family gathering that is running around collecting all the tissue paper and gently folding it to be saved.
I have a bin of bags and boxes for every holiday where I can look and grab from. I don’t go so far as to save old wrapping paper but if you do, more power to you!
Furoshiki
Another way to reuse wrapping materials is to use furoshiki. This is is a Japanese way of wrapping that is both an art and practical way to carry items.
A couple years ago, I bought a bunch of festive fabric for the holidays, printed off directions for furoshiki wrapping and gave them away as gifts. In hindsight, I should have looked for used fabrics from a consignment store. Once you do have some wraps that can be used for wrapping, you can use them over and over again. Just don’t expect them back if you wrap gifts for people outside your family in them.
Recycle
Some of the wrapping paper you can depend on being recyclable are Kraft Paper and anything from Wrappily.
Any wrapping paper that has glitter or shiny material on it unfortunately has to be trashed. If it’s just plain paper, it likely can be recycled. Look for FSC certified or recycled paper. If you do end up buying a new roll of wrapping paper, the plastic wrapping around it can likely be recycled at plastic film recycling drop-off locations.
Kraft paper
If you are a pro at dressing up presents with bows and ribbons, Kraft paper can give you a good plain background to play with while giving your gift recipient the chance to recycle the paper their gift is wrapped in.
Shop for Kraft paper HERE.
Wrappily
Wrappily offers “100% recyclable and compostable newsprint”wrapping paper and here’s the super cool part…they offer sustainable ribbons that are “recyclable, compostable, & made of water soluble dyes”.
Shop for Wrappily products HERE.
Tape and Tags
As we seek out more eco-friendly ways to do things, that also means looking at the small details. Check out these greener alternatives:
Washi Tape
Washi tape is a good paper alternative to the boring tape we typically use. There’s a huge variety of colors and patterns Washi tape comes in and can be used as a decoration on it’s own. Many are biodegradable and can be repositioned or reused.
Scotch Magic Greener Tape
It’s hard to tell if this is greenwashing by a large company but Scotch has come out with a “greener” version of their magic tape that they say is “Made from over 65% recycled or plant-based material”.
For gift tags, I use scraps of wrapping paper. I cut them in little strips, fold them in half and tape them to the outside of the present. This is a good way to use up some of the pieces of wrapping paper that are too small to be useful for wrapping. If you are looking for something a bit classier, check out the options below. Kraft paper should be recyclable but if it’s smaller than a Post-It note, you’ll want to put it into the compost instead.
- Create a space in your home where you can save wrapping materials.
- Use what you have.
- When you use up what you have, think about the greenest ways you can get new wrapping materials.
