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BANG FOR THE BITE
If 10,000 Biters wrap a gift in 100% recycled paper, we'll save about 64 trees.
COCKTAIL FACT
Wrap stars: artist couple Christo and Jeanne-Claude have become famous by wrapping places like Berlin's Reichstag and Paris's Pont Neuf bridge in tree-free materials.
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home › tip library › Natural and Recycled Gift Wrapping
Want eco-friendly gift wrap that's slightly sassier than the Sunday comics?
The Bite
Don't get us wrong - old copies of Boondocks make great wrapping paper, but sometimes you need something a little classier. Lucky you - there are plenty of recycled and/or reusable gift wraps that look even better than the conventional stuff.The Benefits
- Less waste. Americans throw away 25% more trash between Thanksgiving and New Year's.
- Save trees. Only about 45% of all paper is recycled in the US.
- Lead by example. Try recycled gift wrap that looks like the conventional stuff, then dumbfound your anti-eco uncle when you tell him the truth.
Personally Speaking
Jen has been a long-time brown paper bag with raffia wrapper, while Heather likes to "double-gift" - she wraps presents using reusable cloth gift bags whenever she can.Wanna Try?
- Holiday Nostalgia Gift Wrap - recycled gift wrap from eco-oriented Smith & Hawken ($9).
- Natural Elements Gift Wrap - made from shedding tree bark, it's got a great fabric-like texture ($6).
- Poinsettias Hemp Wrap - post-consumer recycled paper with a little hemp and flax thrown in for good measure ($5).
- Recycled Tissue Paper - 100% recycled, it's bleached without chlorine ($3).
- Peaceful Valley - not holiday-themed, but we love their nature-themed wraps (prices vary).
- Winter Berries Gift Wrap - UK Biters can get their recycled gift wrap and support wildlife at the same time (£4).
- Ideal Bite's B'day Tip - think beyond paper. Try reusables: one of the best ways to dress up your gift without waste.
Nov 21,2006
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All editorial suggestions in this tip are the result of testing and a preference for the tip topic. No advertiser has paid to have its company referenced in the tip. For more information, please read our Editorial Policy.
Here’s an idea
Believe you me (who says that??) - I know it is not as easy as Kermy says to go green, and it is even harder to get friends and family members to roll that way.
But the one thing I have found that starts to change people's minds that this isn't all about righteous flaming liberal rhetoric is to show how you just do it, in small ways.
So what I am going to do this year is take off all wrapping paper very slow so that the moment of giving & receiving is extended... my friends and family will see that is something small they could do too. Now, I probably won't go as far as iron the paper for re-use, as my Grammy did... but I will definitely try to re-use it.
Gift giving is so much more when there is some thought put behind it. Just say no to last-minute gifts bought at Macy's without some thoughtful wrapping.
Off to wrap up my new kitten in a brown bag.. omg is it funny... jb
Biter Comments...
I bought beautiful, handmade, cloth gift bags at the Green Festival from a company called Lagniappe (http://www.lagniappegiftwrap.com/). Also, National Geographic Magazine's map inserts make very cool wrapping paper.
I think we ought to think about not wrapping presents at all to save all that waste during the holiday season or wrap in cloth bags as was suggested. I am thinking about buying compact fluorescent light bulbs and giving them to people in canvas bags to help the environment this year.
I like to use old posters as gift wrap!
Again Jen, you and Heather are amazing me with your daily tips: everybody can do them and it gives me a smile knowing that later on, my two daughters, will respect me because I did good deeds for their planet...By the way using old posters as gift wraps? I give you an A+ for smarts!
Ciao
Pascal
Pascal
Ever since I hid my daughter's new bike under a red sheet (she's now 33) we've been wrapping presents in fabric and tying them with yarn. You can buy holiday fabric and yarn cheaply after the holidays, it stores easily, it's washable, and the family looks forward to seeing their familiar patterns every year. Each of our two children had a color so they didn't have to be able to read to figure out who had which gift. We use other non holiday themed fabric for family birthdays etc Since the girls moved out, we've continued the tradition. Amazing that the cloth is still in excellent shape.
I've also wrapped gifts in something that can be used...dish towels, cloth diapers/bath blankets for a baby, a flower pot, baskets, cloth shopping bags and, of course, the paper gift bags.
Frankly, these are all so much easier to use than trying to get paper around strangely shaped corners!
I reuse all the wrapping paper that comes on gifts given to me. But ideally I prefer the ideas of using gift bags or wrapping in fabric. I like wrapped gifts so wouldn't leave them unwrapped unless they were really big.
In our family we like glitz so we initially purchase inexpensive but beautiful gift boxes, all sizes and huge Christmas style bags with great pictures and or designs from the dollar store.
Then everyone opens their beautifully "wrapped" gifts takes home the boxes and bags and uses them again next year. I'm using some stuff over eight years and it still looks like new, you just fold them up and they keep beautifully.
This year we are also giving out a be-ribboned compact flourescent bulb, instead of a bow, to folks with a page of information regarding climate change, on how much money they save in energy using the bulb and doing other energy saving things, and what the saving is in emmissions so that they understand what they are doing. To some people, like the folks at church, they just get the bulb a token gift.
This year we gave all our family members CF lightbulbs, non-petroleum based laundry/cleaning supplies, and warm socks. We packaged these gifts in canvas shopping bags that they can take to the grocery store. Everyone loved the idea! Sometimes it only takes a nudge and some simple physical tools.
Check out www.fishlipspaperdesigns.com
They have very hip and modern gift wraps printed in the USA on 100% Post-Consumer recycled paper using non-toxic soy based inks. The paper that the designs are printed on is "Processed Chlorine Free" and manufactured using Green-e® certified wind power. It doesn't get much better than this! And as far as convincing the nay-sayers, you would never in a million years know this paper was so "green". See, going "green" really can be EASY and BEAUTIFUL!!!
Oh, why didn't I keep that Teen Beat Rick Springfield or Weekly Reader Hang in There Kitty posters -- they would make the perfect wrapping paper for my 80s-reared brethren. Great tip nonetheless. I'm trying to figure out how or if it's possible to turn this mountain of shiny, glossy, already holiday-themed catalogs into wrapping paper. Despite my continuing efforts to slow the river of catalogs, they keep coming. Has anyone tried to use them as wrapping paper? For small gifts, one page will do well; it's the quilting together of many pages that worries this non-crafty gal.
Bigger gifts are going in reusable snazzy grocery shopping bags and pillowcases, on which I may try to write something festive and clever using some kind of fabric decorating pen.
Check out the great recycled wrapping paper at www.greenraising.com!
There are even wonderful cloth bags, which can be reused. Each comes with its own code, so you can track its progress across the country, see what special occasions its been a part of, and what gifts it's held.
25% of all purchases go to your charity of choice, too - good karma with your holiday wrap!
Gifts are presented to someone to express your feelings and love . online shopping has made purchasing gifts for people much easy these days .Rakhi festival is one of the popular festival in India.The very important tips in the come festival [URL="http://www.infibeam.com/rakhi-gifts/"]Gifts to India[/URL] many types gifts available in this online shopping mall.
PHOTO ALBUMS
Posted by: WB | November 21, 2006 at 06:55 AM