How to Use and Recycle Your Packaging Supplies with Ease

If you ever visited someone who had all their décor in place, the scent of cinnamon and pine wafting from a herb pot, and all their gift buying complete and wrapped and they were sitting reading a book with a glass of wine, wearing a save our environment sweatshirt 15 days before Christmas and wondered how they did it, these tips are for you.

Buy an Under Bed Cardboard Tray with Wheels for Your Christmas Supplies

To help save our environment, save wrapping paper and reuse it. An under bed tray with wheels allows you to keep it out of sight and extract it whenever you need it. The large size allows storage of long tubes of wrapping paper, folded wrapping paper, tape, scissors, tags, ribbon and everything you could need.

Visit Your Local Liquor or Small Family Grocery Store for Recycled Cardboard Boxes

For large packaging projects, consider storing them in a good hiding place until Christmas day and restricting their wrapping to a bow. If you have an awkward shaped object and need a box, try the liquor store or a small grocery store, they often have boxes they tear down and recycle but will provide to you for free.

Save Your Small Boxes and Paper Grocery Bags for Later Reuse

Shoe boxes, jewelry boxes, small container boxes such as CD boxes can often be reused at Christmas time, so saving them spares the hassle of finding one. These will also fit in the under bed cardboard tray on wheels. Paper grocery bags can act as gift bags for large gifts or for a family gift by decorating them with recycled house paint, glued tinfoil and recycled plastic ornaments. Add a recycled bow and you're set.

Use Crushed Recycled Newspaper or Office Supplies for Packing

Although Styrofoam peanuts from the packing stores like UPS can seem low cost and like they will provide better protection, crushed, recycled newspaper or office paper will also do the trick. When you receive a gift, place the peanuts in recycled plastic grocery bags and store with your Christmas wrap.

Repurpose Recycled Office Paper

Many times gifts are hard to cover with gift wrap either because the print on their box is heavy or because they are large. Using office paper on a package before wrapping it can save your wrapping paper use to a single sheet. If you are left with scraps of wrapping paper, produce a collage effect on the package filling in with recycled office paper and using ribbon to seal any ragged edges.