Every holiday season millions of people purchase holiday cards and wrapping paper to decorate gifts for their loved ones. Each year 2.65 billion Christmas cards and 4 million tons of wrapping paper and shopping bags are purchased then disposed of. That is an insane amount of waste only being used to make presents look nice for a few seconds before they are ripped open. I know during Christmas every year my family fills two extra large garbage bags worth of wrapping paper. No one thinks about where all that paper and ribbon is going after it is thrown away, and honestly I wasn't either until I was educated about the issue. You see, people believe that when they throw something away that their trash items actually go away. However, in reality, there is no such thing as away, but there are such things as landfills. Items like ribbon and wrapping paper are non recyclable and will most likely stay in the landfill longer than you will be alive before they fully decompose. So, all that paper you just purchased for your gifts will be around longer than you will- pretty crazy right? Also, it's important to consider all the energy used (wasted) to produce it and all the toxic chemicals that may have leached into the near by water systems from the paper dyes, and for what? Oh yeah, that one package of wrapping paper you are holding. But, I'm not here to bash anyone's Christmas traditions, because just like everyone else I actually enjoy beautifully wrapped presents. I really do believe that wrapping paper makes everything more exciting, but why not make it beautiful and sustainable? Here are a few idea's i've found to work perfectly for an eco-friendly holiday or even a birthday! ...
Holiday Cards:
1. Skip the disposable holiday cards sent in the mail and send e-cards
2. Reuse old holiday cards for gift tagging
3. Botanical PaperWorks sells a line of biodegradable christmas cards and gift tags made from sustainable plant sources.
http://www.botanicalpaperworks.com/
Eco friendly gift wrapping:
1. Use fabric - think reusable gift wrapping!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=terD_vZJHVM
You can purchase these wrappings from BOBO at http://www.bobowrap.com/
or from VZ Wraps (reusable fabric gift bags) at http://www.vzwraps.com/
Holiday Cards:
1. Skip the disposable holiday cards sent in the mail and send e-cards
2. Reuse old holiday cards for gift tagging
3. Botanical PaperWorks sells a line of biodegradable christmas cards and gift tags made from sustainable plant sources.
http://www.botanicalpaperworks.com/
Eco friendly gift wrapping:
1. Use fabric - think reusable gift wrapping!
- Have you ever heard of Furoshiki? Or more moderately known as "wrapagami"- it's an old tradition that originated in Japan where you wrap a gift in a fabric, scarf, or bandana of choice and it can be reused over again. Here's a youtube I found by Jennifer, the author of the book wrapagami, showing a few step by step ways to wrap your gifts using furochic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=terD_vZJHVM
You can purchase these wrappings from BOBO at http://www.bobowrap.com/
or from VZ Wraps (reusable fabric gift bags) at http://www.vzwraps.com/
- Use already read newspaper, travel maps, sheet music, magazines, etc. as a creative way to wrap presents.
- DIY No-Sew Fabric Gift Wraps: these adorable gift wraps will not only impress your friends and family but will double as a reusable bag for them, eliminating the waste factor. If you're interested in making these head over to http://www.we-are-scout.com/2013/06/tutorial-gorgeous-no-sew-fabric-gift-bags.html for a step-by-step instructions.
2. Instead of buying new bows to top of your presents, what about making your own?! Get creative and follow this guide to help you create your own bows out of leftover shopping bags http://splashofsomething.com/2012/12/05/wrapping-week-2012-martha-inspired-shopping-bag-bows/
3. Use shredded paper as a box filler instead of buying tissue paper. You can get super creative with this and shred colorful things like magazines. Go to http://allputtogether.com/2013/03/18/decorating-with-shredded-paper/ for blogger Andi Jenkin's ideas on how to decorate with shredded paper.
4. If you can't give up wrapping paper atleast opt for ones that are 100% recyclable. Brands like Fish Lips have a great selection of super cute choices http://www.fishlipspaperdesigns.com/
Staying sustainable over the holiday season or simply for a birthday can create great DIY projects to do with the family and is an awesome way to tap into your inner creativeness & have fun while doing it! Also, when shopping for presents remember to always bring your own reusable bags to stores so you don't have to use any plastic bags:) Hope you can use some of these idea's for your holiday season!
- Megan
Resources:
http://www.earth911.com/living-well-being/events-entertainement/buy-or-diy-eco-friendly-gift-wrap/