Wrapping gives the gift of green
When Gloria Waggoner wraps her Christmas gifts, she often looks outside for inspiration. She might wrap a box in brown packaging paper, tie it up with hemp twine in place of ribbon, and adorn it with pine cones, dried herbs or holly sprigs from her yard instead of bows.
“You can even dye the hemp twine by dipping it into watered-down acrylic paint,” she says.
Waggoner’s rustic wrappings not only celebrate nature, but they give it a helping hand by reducing the use of conventional gift wrap, which usually can’t be recycled.
There are hundreds of ways to decorate gifts without hurting the earth. Waggoner, who runs Rosa Gallica, a nonprofit eco-chic boutique on Spokane’s South Hill, also uses vintage fabric as gift wrap and reuses paper from gifts she receives, even if that paper has seem better days.
“Anymore, with the shabby chic look people love so much, it’s OK to use crinkled paper,” she says. “It’s like the casual look of not ironing a damask tablecloth.”
Ann Murphy, education coordinator for the Spokane Regional Solid Waste System, suggests using gift bags, which are easy to re-use, rather than paper. If a gift is very large, she suggests sending the recipient on a treasure hunt with clues that lead to a closet where the present is hidden.
She also recommends giving nonmaterial gifts, such as tickets to the theater or sporting events. Not only do those save paper, but “you’re giving something that is an experience rather than more stuff,” Murphy says.
Many of the following ideas come from Waggoner, Murphy, www.realsimple.com, www.care2.com and www.eartheasy.com.
Recycled wrap
Secondhand stores and used bookshops are treasure troves for gift-wrap alternatives. And instead of purchasing a new product that required energy to make and deliver it to Spokane, you’ll be re-using an existing item that’s already here.
•Wrap music-related gifts in old sheet music, travel-themed presents in maps and home décor-related gifts in wallpaper.
•From an old dictionary, tear out a page with a meaningful word, such as “love” or “Christmas,” center the word on the present you’re wrapping, circle the word with a red pen, then tie the package up in red ribbon.
Contain it
Why not make the container that holds your gift part of the present itself?
•Wrap a cooking-related gift with new kitchen towels, and tie it up in ribbon or string. Red-and-white bakery twine would further enforce the kitchen theme.
•Gifts also could look festive wrapped in colorful bandanas, a winter scarf or baby blanket.
•Antique stores sell all sorts of charming containers, including metal breadboxes, hatboxes and cake tins.
Make your own
Most households likely have the materials to make wrapping “paper” from scratch already.
•Sew your own gift bags using holiday-themed fabric.
•If sewing is the last thing you plan to do during the busy holiday season, just use fabric the same way you’d use regular wrapping paper. Or purchase fabric gift bags from retailers such as Lucky Crow Gift Bags ( www.luckycrow.com).
•Many children are prolific artists. Use their next masterpiece in place of wrapping paper.
•Newspapers work well, too. They’re plentiful, the sheets are big and the paper is easily recycled.
Ribbons and bows
Instead of buying new ribbon or bags of bows, consider these alternatives:
•Collect fallen pine cones and greenery to adorn your packages. At the grocery store, buy sprigs of rosemary, which are festive looking and fragrant.
•Did you know you can create curly ribbon using strips of newspaper? Cut or tear long, 1/2-inch strips of the paper, then run it over the blade of a pair of scissors as you would if you were curling ribbon. Hold several curled strips together, bind them with a stapler, then tape it to a package.
•Vintage stores often sell old greeting cards. To create gift tags, glue them to cardstock, punch holes in their tops, then tie them to packages with string or twine. Write the name of the gifts’ recipients on the cardstock side of the tags.
Easy steps to take
How else can you cut down on gift-wrap waste?
•Open the presents you receive carefully and reuse the paper next year.
•If you do buy wrapping paper, select products made from 100 percent recycled paper, such as those sold at www.peacefulvalleygreetings .com. Rosa Gallica carries handmade, fair trade wrapping paper.