It’s A (Sustainable) Wrap!

If you’re anything like me, wrapping gifts is practically an afterthought. I consider myself a thoughtful gift giver, so most of my energy goes into figuring out what the recipient might love to get. And as I wrote about in last month’s blog, I try to find sustainable gift ideas: an experience, a book, something homemade, something local.

But I realize that I need to pay more attention to thoughtful wrapping of the gift.

The point was driven home by a recent Washington Post article on sustainable gift-giving. It notes that “bows, bags and other holiday material add 1 million tons of trash to landfills each week.” Not each year. Not each month. Each week.

To avoid landfill waste, it pays to use reusable, compostable or recyclable materials as much as possible. Here’s what I’m doing this year to avoid contributing to the waste problem.

Using what I have on hand

I have not yet purchased gift wrap this year. I can’t promise that I won’t, but so far I’ve been able to find what I need at home. Such as:

Brown paper. I have some craft paper and brown paper grocery bags on hand that I store away when they make their way into our home. I love the elegance and simplicity of these options. I’m no artist but I think the neutrality of the brown paper becomes a perfect backdrop for adding holiday decor, like dried sliced oranges and greenery (more on these below). The brown paper is easily recyclable. 

Newspaper. Why not? A bit like the brown paper, the neutral black and white nature of the paper lets you highlight your holiday bits and bobs. And like brown paper, newspaper is highly recyclable. By using it as gift wrap before recycling it, you are giving it another life.

I like to check the paper for fun headlines, comics or puzzles that may be appreciated by the gift recipient.

Newspaper makes a great wrap. In this case, I found three New York Times mini crosswords that I positioned as the top part of the package.

Toilet paper packaging. During the toilet-paper strained early days of Covid, we subscribed to Who Gives a Crap, a company that ships sustainably made toilet paper (we order the bamboo variety) and commits 50% of their profit towards providing toilets to people in developing countries. They also package each roll in beautiful paper that I save throughout the year to use as gift wrap. 

Yes, this gift is wrapped in toilet paper packaging.

Using easily-reusable containers

When I run out of things at home, I try to use packaging that will be easy for the recipient to reuse. 

Holiday gift bags and boxes. Even for those eager kids (and adults!) who tear through gift wrapping to get at what’s inside, a holiday gift bag invites the recipient to open it carefully. And these types of bags call out to be reused. It becomes a gift in itself.

I’m a regular guest on the radio show, Al in the Afternoon. In a recent conversation, Al mentioned he plans to use decorative gift boxes this year. I love this idea. Going one sustainable step further, he and his wife will forego using tissue paper inside the box. Since tissue paper is generally not recyclable, they are making a wise choice. 

Mason jars. The undeclared mascot of the zero waste movement is surely the glass mason jar. And it makes a beautiful package for certain kinds of gifts, especially food. As Anne-Marie Bonneau, aka The Zero Waste Chef, has fittingly said, “Jars are the little black dress of food—everything looks good in them.”

This year I’ll be filling some jars with homemade (by me) granola, as well as delicious maple cashews I bought in bulk from Takoma Park Silver Spring Co-op. The granola is such a favorite that I included the recipe in my book, Zero Waste Living, the 80/20 Way. I’ve adapted it from the zero waste blogger, Tiny Trash Can. 

Again, the glass jar, though technically recyclable, invites itself to be reused.

Maple cashews, dressed up in a jar with a saved ribbon from last year and some greenery from our backyard

Reusable produce bags. Admittedly, making a reusable produce bag is not quick and easy for less crafty folks, like me! But what a lovely gift on its own. My friend, Kath, sewed this produce bag (see below picture) from beautiful fabric she had on hand, complete with a sewed-on ribbon. I will smile every time I use this. But for now I’m thoroughly enjoying the homemade caramel corn that was inside.

This handmade reusable produce bag is a gift in itself

Finding sustainable decor

The search for natural materials in your own backyard. Getting back to the bows and ribbons statistic at the beginning of this blog, it makes sense to consider more sustainable decorative alternatives. I had never used dehydrated oranges as decoration but was pleasantly surprised by how easy these are to make. The “recipe”: slice oranges about ¼ inch think and bake directly on the oven rack at 200 degrees Fahrenheit for a few hours, turning them every hour. DO put a baking tray in the lower part of the oven to catch any slices that may fall as you turn them.

I asked my friend Rani, who is an expert gift giver and gift wrapper, how to decorate my wrapped gifts more sustainably. She reminded me that I have three holly bushes growing in my backyard. Perfect!

If you’re not lucky enough to have holly bushes in the backyard, you could also ask Christmas tree vendors if they have extra greenery on hand. 

Dehydrated oranges, natural greenery and twine made from natural fibers are all easily compostable. 

Reuse, Reuse, Reuse. I have a bagful of ribbons, reusable gift bags and wrapping paper. The short time I take every December 26 to sort through the wrapping and bows to keep what is reusable really pays off.  I have not had to buy new ribbons in years. If you don’t have a ribbon bag today, your future self will thank you for the work you do in collecting them.

Wishing you a low-waste and joyful holiday season!