One of my favorite things to do this time of year besides gift shopping is gift wrapping. I used to look forward to seeing the new selection of wrapping paper. The beautiful flecks of gold foil, the glitter, and the shiny coatings looked magical. However, once I started looking to the amount of waste accumulated from wrapping paper alone, I knew I had to look for an alternative.
This year let’s feel good about gift wrapping by choosing environmentally friendly options. Skip the plastic bows, the tape, and the ribbons. There’s no cleanup with these eco-friendly alternatives! Here are 4 environmentally friendly alternatives to consider this holiday season! (And any occasion that involves gift giving.)
Did you know? Most commercial wrapping paper is not recyclable? Despite it being called wrapping paper, we need to take into consideration that the coating, foil, holographic designs, and glitter is not recyclable. According to a study from 2017 by Zero Waste Canada, 540,000 tonnes of wrapping paper end up in the landfill following the holidays. That’s the equivalent weight of 100,000 elephants!
1) Furoshiki Furoshiki are Japanese wrapping cloths that were used to transport goods for many centuries. These cloths were often made from silk or cotton. Find the perfect colour, pattern, and texture, at your local fabric store, Etsy, Chapters, and more! There are so many beautiful patterns to choose from. You may reuse your fabric piece for other gifts. If you love DIY projects, you can turn your fabric piece into other items such as a hair scrunchie or a tote bag!
2) Fabric Bag Conceal your gifts in seconds! If you’d like something a bit easier than fabric wrap, a fabric bag is a perfect option. These bags come in different sizes and sometimes they’re even reversible, meaning you can reuse them next year with a different pattern. They also make crinkling sounds just like traditional wrapping paper.
3) Gift Basket I love receiving gift baskets and better yet, gifting them. It’s a ton of fun selecting unique and personal items to include in the basket. You can find gift baskets at your local Michaels, Dollarama, IKEA, Wal-Mart, and more. These baskets can then be reused in many ways. I personally love using them for storage, whether it’s kitchen towels, cleaning supplies, or bathroom supplies.
4) Reusable Grocery Bag I’ve come across many festive grocery bags during the holiday season and have been gifted some myself! These bags can then be reused for any occasion. I take them grocery shopping, mall shopping, on road trips, to the library, and more.
I hope this post inspires you to forgo traditional wrapping paper this year. The amount of gifts we give and receive add up. If we make small changes and encourage others to do so, we can make huge impact. What are some wrapping paper alternatives you’d like to try?
These are all great alternatives! I’ve been using paper gift bags for a few years now and try to reuse them over and over! Thanks for sharing.
That’s wonderful! I also have a few gift bags left over that make an appearance each year. Thanks for reading Jodie!
Awesome ideas! I like to wrap gifts when I can in recyclable paper, brown parchment paper, or kraft paper bags.
Those are perfect sustainable alternatives! Thanks for reading Sarah!
Great post! There’s so much waste that comes with gift wrapping usually. Giving presents in a gift basket or reusable grocery bag is a great idea.
Thank you for reading Isabelle!
All great ideas! I love those Japanese wrapping cloths.
Thank you Wendy! They’re great aren’t they!
These gift wrap ideas are just amazing! Wonderful Post! Have a great day!
Rampdiary | Fineartandyou | Beautyandfashionfreaks
Thank you for reading Jyoti!
Some amazing ideas for sustainable gift wrapping! I like to wrap presents with brown paper and add some Christmas stickers to them and use recyclable gift bags to put the gifts in! x
Lucy | http://www.lucymary.co.uk
Brown paper is another great idea! Thanks for reading Lucy!
I love the sounds of the Japanese wrapping cloth! I often use colorful scarves. 🙂
Giving gifts in a basket with a bow is an awesome way to give a collection of fun, small gifts and also pass along a basket that will be put to good use.
Thanks so much for sharing some awesomely sustainable ways to gift this year without losing the charm of traditional wrapping!
I love that you use colourful scarves! That’s such a wonderful idea. Thank you for reading Jaya!
What a great post! I love the idea of the Furoshiki to wrap gifts! And gift baskets always look so great too (without the plastic wrapping of course). Thanks for the great ideas 😊
Thank you for reading Vourneen!
We try to find recyclable wrapping paper! These are great ideas for alternatives.
Thank you for reading!
I always used gift bags, but I’m betting those aren’t recyclable either. I love the idea of the furoshiki, but how do you ask for it back after wrapping a gift in it? I’d feel so awkward LOL Love this post though, thanks for sharing these ideas.
Haha they would essentially be part of the gift for the recipient to reuse however they’d like. Thank you for reading Giulia!
A grocery bag is a lovely idea, or maybe some brown parcel paper to add a historic look! Thanks for sharing x
I love the idea of a historic look! Thank you for reading Eleanor!
We used brown paper one year which when paired with other things actually looked really lovely! It’s important to check if paper can be recycled before you use it, so much of it can’t! I love the gift basket idea and furoshiki is a lovely idea!
The brown paper sounds lovely! And checking whether wrapping paper can be recycled is super important. Thank you for reading Jenny!
Great tips here! At the moment o use recyclable wrapping paper and I bought my parents reusable advent calendars to use every year.
Reusable advent calendars are wonderful! Thank you for reading Lisa!