Gift Wrap Like an Eco-Pro

Holiday Series

So now you’ve learned a few things about low-waste gifts. Awesome!

But now comes the next challenge: how do you wrap them?

There are all kinds of options when it comes to wrapping presents with the Earth in mind, so don’t sweat the pressure of plastic-wrapped tubes of paper and gift bags staring you down. Here are a few tips:

1. Use what you have from last year. Come on, you probably have some kind of paper bag full of random bows and ribbons, maybe half a roll of last year’s Frosty the Snowman gift wrap? If that’s the case, use that up first before trying to buy plastic-free/reusable wrapping supplies.

2. Use paper bags and newspaper. It may not seem quite as festive, but you can decorate presents with other elements on top of the paper. Due to covid restrictions, I have many more paper grocery bags and take out bags than I normally would, and these can be cut down the sides to make some of that chic butcher paper style.

   

   Trendy looking wrapping paper or cut up chipotle bag? No one knows . . .

   (until they open it I guess)

   

3. Wrap gifts in fabric. You may have seen Lush’s colorful knot-wrap packaging for some of their body products, but you can do that for any gift you desire! The originally Japanese style of wrapping presents in fabric is called furoshiki. You can even make the wrapping part of the gift itself by using a scarf, handkerchief, or pretty fabric for a more crafty friend. Learn how to use furoshiki for gift wrapping or even just creating a shopping bag on the go here.

4. Use natural elements to decorate. Compostable décor can be beautiful! Sun or oven-dried citrus slices, pine branches, and shapes cut out of salt dough are all examples of easy to prepare decorations that will easily degrade after the present is opened.

5. Swap plastic ribbon for twine or cotton fabric. This may come as no surprise, but the typical curling ribbon you might be using for gifts is plastic and non-recyclable. Try using cotton or hemp twine/ribbon to wrap gifts instead.

6. Decorate with garbage. Okay let me elaborate further: decorate with packaging you might have thrown away. I noticed that the toothpaste box I was ready to toss had this dazzling holographic design on a good quarter of it, so I cut out pieces and made my own reflective confetti! There might be decoration-worthy bits on the cardboard packaging of all kinds of things in your trash bin.

   

   

7. Switch up your tape. Scotch tape is mostly plastic, so why not try using paper washi tape instead? It’s colorful and plastic-free. It can be more expensive than Scotch tape, so the important thing to focus on is using less tape and wrapping gifts more efficiently with what you do have. You can even learn to wrap with no tape at all!

8. Try using reusable bags, boxes, and tins. This can be a variety of things, from reusing the cardboard boxes your gifts were originally packaged in, buying metal tins from the dollar store to share homemade treats, and using gift bags your recipients can either keep to give another gift in or give back to you later.

9. Save the packaging from gifts you receive this year! Inevitably, you will be given gifts that aren’t sustainably wrapped, and that’s okay. Just try to save any bows, ribbons, bags and boxes you can to add to your wrapping collection for next time you’ve got gifts to give.

Happy Wrapping!

Grace Kennedy

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For clarity, none of the brands or websites linked in this blog were sponsored.