Eco Friendly Alternatives to Wrapping Paper
It has become increasingly popular to be more environmentally thoughtful when choosing ways to present your gifts to friends and family. There are several simple ways you can achieve that ‘wow that is a good idea’ impact when handing over gifts in eco-friendly containers.
Use a ‘bag for life’ bag. Many retailers, especially those in nations that have tried to get the use of plastic carrier bags under control, now have strong reinforced plastic tote bags available at the checkout for under a dollar, euro or pound. Some of these have the name of the store and or company logo emblazoned all over them. Others have tried a little harder and use jute, calico or heavy duty cotton to earn their green credentials. Some retailers are obviously a little higher in the cool stakes than others, Harrods of London for instance would probably create more excitement than Walmart! but whatever brand you choose the main idea is that the packaging is not going to become part of a garbage mountain. .
Another great thing about using these bags to package your gifts is that if they are suitable for daily use they are a constant reminder of the person who gave them, often long after the gift they held has been used, another benefit is that they will reduce the use of awful plastic carrier bags that are one of the biggest, silent environmental disasters of the modern age.
If you have the skills unbleached calico is very inexpensive and you can run up a quite a of few bags in a afternoon with if you have a sewing machine. You can then further embellish these with beads or get younger members of the family to decorate them with fabric marker pens.The bargain bins in stores like IKEA can also be a treasure trove of inexpensive fabric that can be used to make cloth totes, older relations love this kind of lasting memento and if you get hold of some cool prints younger ones can be too.
In a similar vein, baskets of different shapes and sizes also offer a great alternative to wrapping paper and if you use recycled shredded paper it is easy to arrange items so they don’t roll around. This works especially well if you have a collection of items that may have been very difficult to wrap in conventional wrapping paper anyway. Once again the recipient is left with a useful item in addition to the gift the basket contained that they then choose to can reuse or recycle.
When giving gifts that are in cylindrical containers, , it is a great idea choose a paper gift bag made of recycled materials. This is because not only will you save yourself the fiddly job of trying to wrap an item that keeps rolling away from you, but of all the gift wrapping methods it is the most likely to be neatly folded, smoothed and stored away for reuse.With luck, later on you might even receive a gift in the packaging you have already used, particularly if you exchange consumables such as wine, honey, olive oil or home-made preserves.
Ultimately, if the container you choose can be re-used, it becomes part of the gift, and hopefully all the more appreciated.
