Well, last week I never got round to writing for this blog... whoops! But, here I am with another post on having a sustainable Christmas!
It's the week of the big day, and we're all going to be wrapping presents (unless you are super organised and already have done it). Today I'm going to talk about wrapping paper, and how you can be eco about it. Most commercial wrapping paper includes plastic, whether it's in the wrapping paper itself, or the plastic packaging it comes in. Either way, due to the nature of gift wrapping, and how many people rip it open, never to be used again, it is not eco-friendly at all. Such an easy eco swap, yet the plastic-infused wrapping "paper" (well it's not really 100% paper, might as well call it plastic wrap at this point) is still used by the masses. When will people learn!? It honestly bugs me so much, with just how simple it is to be eco!
I see all the YouTubers and influencers using the non-eco wrapping paper- if they could just make the straightforward swap to sustainable wrapping, then they would influence so many others to do the same. Unfortunately, I don't have enough of a reach yet to make a big enough impact on my channel, though I know I have helped some make small changes, which is nice.
Growing up, for birthday presents (both ours and for parties we attended) my mum would often use scrap paper to wrap them, and she/we would draw on them, and clour them in. It was original, sustainable and a personal touch. We did sometimes use commercial wrapping paper through the years for birthdays and Christmas, but not that often (more for Christmas). We also used, and still use, gift bags, which can be reused.
My best friend and I used the same gift bag for our birthdays, back and forth, for a good bit of time (until her mum accidentally threw it out). It was more of a cute friendship thing, but also a way to ensure it was reused and not thrown out.
I grew up with the philosophy of reusing and not wasting, long before we knew much about sustainability or anything about zero-waste. My mum's parents lived through the war, and so they passed on that kind of philosophy. It's what eventually helped me become zero-waste (even though many years ago I thought that doing so would be far too difficult, and I'd never be able to make changes like that... how wrong I was!)
Last year, I made a video about sustainable wrapping, which you can find
here. I also showed a bit of my eco wrapping in
Vlogmas in 2019, before I started the zero-waste journey (I was already on an eco journey though). There are so many things you can do, just let your imagination/creativity run wild!
Here are some ideas on how to wrap sustainably:
-Reuse wrapping or tissue paper (don't tear, no matter how excited, open carefully)
-Reuse gift bags (wine bags make great gift bags for anything!)
-Use brown craft paper, or matte wrapping paper (without plastic packaging)
-Avoid shiny wrapping paper or gift toppers/ribbons. If it has a sheen, it probably contains plastic!
-Use scrap paper, newspaper, etc. (I like to use Who Gives a Crap TP wrapping... yes I said toilet paper! Their eco rolls come wrapped in pretty wrapping, which can be used to wrap presents!)
-Reusable gift box (paper/card, or metal)
-Reuse a shoebox, or any box you have lying around & decorate it
-Don't use tape, or use brown paper tape instead
-Use twine, raffia, wool, or another natural string to hold together instead of tape
-Use a reusable fabric ribbon
-Keep & reuse ribbons/string etc.
-Use a hole puncher to make a paper tag to tie on, intstead of a sticker for names
-Add a pine cone, doilies, stamps, or something else you may have lying around, for an extra touch on the wrapping or tag!
-Use a stocking
-Draw on scrap paper
-Use reusable fabric wrap, or make the wrapping part of the present, or the other way round- present part of the wrapping (scarf etc.)
-Use kitchen/toilet rolls to make a cracker-shaped presentation for small/narrow gifts.
I hope this gave you some ideas- as you can see you can do literally anything! You can also watch my video for some further inspiration.
-Sustainable Sarah
All images from Pixabay.com
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