Happy holidays zero wasters! This is a great time of year to consider zero waste wrapping options—they’re beautiful, personalizable, and better for the environment!
Why does this matter? Thousands of trees are cut down each year to make wrapping paper. And a lot of wrapping isn’t recyclable because it’s lined with plastic.
What can you do? Integrate one (or more!) zero waste wrapping methods into your gift-giving routine, both now and throughout the coming year.
Here are some of our favorite zero waste wrapping tips:
Cloth
Use any cloth (second-hand tea towels, handkerchiefs, cloth napkins, scarves, etc.) in place of wrapping paper or tissue paper. You can even wrap your presents using the traditional Japanese Furoshiki method, following this simple tutorial here.
Used Paper
Get creative with newspaper, magazines, and paper bags to wrap beautiful gifts. You can really customize your wrapping designs with this method – cut, paint, and draw to your heart’s content!
Used Jars
Old jars make perfect containers for zero waste candy and other yummy homemade treats.
Used Wrapping Paper
Inevitably, some people will give you gifts that are wrapped in traditional wrapping paper. Instead of throwing the paper away, open your gifts carefully and reuse the paper for wrapping gifts next year!
Old Cards
Cut apart old cards and repurpose them as gift tags or postcards.
DIY Tape
As an alternative to using scotch tape to wrap presents, try this simple recipe for homemade paper tape, which is both fun to make and elegant to use!
DIY Bows
Cut paper shopping bags into strips and curl them to make ribbons – see our video tutorial! You can add a bit of color with markers or by mixing up the shopping bags.
What’s your favorite zero waste wrapping method? Let us know in the comments below!
Another suggestion might be to donate to a charity in the recipient’s name as a gift. That’s what I do now for everyone older than 10. Also, by the way, I had some difficulty logging in because the site kept rejecting my email. Maybe needs some work.
Absolutely! Check out this post for suggestions for zero waste gifts (including donations). Sorry you had trouble with the email, we can certainly do some testing.