The Alternative Consumer

This blog focuses on environmental issues, and healthy lifestyle choices -- new products and service options for your self, your friends, family and home. It's all about making smart choices, and living well!

Saturday, December 02, 2006

The Rap on Gift Wrap

I know it's not an act relished by all, but as long as I'm not confronted by a huge pile of gifts, I actually enjoy wrapping gifts. I usually tie in the way the gift is wrapped, with the theme of the gift. It's not that difficult a thing to do, it usually just takes a few minutes of extra thought.

Instead of buying gift wrap, you can wrap gifts in all kinds of recycled materials -- from cloth (recycle that table cloth, garment or sheet/towel) to baskets, bowls, used boxes or paper bags. Most mass-produced wrapping paper you find in stores is not recyclable and ends up in landfills. Get creative -- have fun and make your own wrapping paper. You can wrap presents with a wide array of alternatives -- old maps or posters; the comics section of a newspaper; or paper bags & boxes featuring your, or your children's doodles/artwork. If every family wrapped just three holiday gifts in any of these ways, (per The Sierra Club), it would save enough paper to cover 45,000 football fields. Pass along your eco-friendly gift wrap suggestion. /m

2 Comments:

Blogger Chris said...

My wife likes to use old newspaper to wrap presents. She cuts out colour pictures of Santa, bells, tinsel etc. from the advertising sections and pastes them on to spice things up. Not only is it eco-friendly, but it's a hell of a lot cheaper than wrapping paper! I reckon her creations look much better than normal wrapped presents, and show the care and attention she put into the wrapping, which in itself adds value to the gift.

1:48 PM  
Blogger Galli Galli Sim Sim said...

Hi there,
That's very cool of your wife. Save money, save a tree, and add another element of TLC to that gift...it's all good.

Have a wonderful holiday, and hope that home restoration doesn't kill you.

/m

3:12 PM  

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