Here’s an eye-opening statistic from Stanford University: If every family in the U.S. wrapped three presents in reused materials, it would save enough paper to cover 45,000 football fields. There’s no need to buy new things. Wrap pretty packages with materials you already have, like brown packing paper, newspaper comics, tied-up scarves.
Ribbons and bows add the finishing touch, but, unfortunately, most of the time they go in the garbage. Instead of plastic bows, buy some velvet or satin ribbon that look beautiful over and over again.
Reduce, reuse, recycle: we’re all about holiday cheer with a minimal environmental footprint.
Upcycle brown kraft paper
You could buy a roll of brown kraft paper, but why kill another tree when there’s already loads of it in the packages shipped to your house. Plus everyone has approximately a zillion paper grocery bags from when stores banned reusable bags.
Leave the paper plain, or let the kids customize it with stamps or paint. Kids will love helping decorate, you will love keeping them busy. And yes, paper that’s been colored with crayons, markers and paint and small amounts of stickers is still recyclable.
Skip the plastic bow and tie on a sprig of greenery instead (snipped for free from the yard, and compostable).
Reuse fabric
Embrace the Japanese tradition of furoshiki, using squares of fabric to wrap and store things. Fabric is great for oddly shaped gifts, and it’s multipurpose. Use a pretty scarf or tea towel and your recipient gets two-for-one. Something old, something new: Repurpose an outgrown baby receiving blanket, or wrap with a new T-shirt so they can wear the wrapping.
Cover with the Sunday funnies
The comics section is perfect for bigger boxes and it’s 100% recyclable. As a bonus, your recipients will have something fun to read after unwrapping their present. We added a grosgrain ribbon that’s festive and reusable.
Wrap it with a map
Since we’re not going anywhere this year, you can put your old maps and atlases to use as wrapping paper. Bonus points for getting a map of a place that’s special to you, or where you’re planning a post-COVID dream vacation.
Bag it up with a pillowcase
There’s a reason the big man in red carries around a giant cloth sack. It’s a non-fussy way to load up bulky things quickly. Nothing wasted here, just return it to the linen closet after it’s unwrapped. You could sew the kids’ names onto each pillowcase to personalize it.