Recycled Christmas Wrapping Ideas

Christmas is coming and with it are those presents you have to wrap. Wrapping paper is not only expensive, but is not great for the environment either. Here are some recycled alternatives that are kind to the planet!

Try Fabric bags!

These are a fabulous alternative to paper and can be made very simply if you have a bit of sewing skill. They don't even have to be finished if you have pinking shears. Simply cut a square with pinking shears and sew up the sides, you can even do it by hand with little effort if you don't have a sewing machine. To be even more environmentally friendly, you can cut up an old shirt (for example) which cannot be donated due to a stain or other marring. Simply cut the part which is not stained to make the bag. Even if you purchase fabric bags from a craft store on sale, it is a friendlier alternative because they are likely to be used again and again by the recipient, unlike paper.

Grocery store paper bags:

If you haven't already made the switch to cloth shopping bags, why don't you use your brown paper bags to wrap your presents? Similarly, if you are using cloth bags, paper bags can be gotten easily from recycling bins or from the recycling bin at the grocery store itself. Remember the song, Favorite Things? One line is, "brown paper packages tied up with string, these are a few of my favorite things". It is charming and simple. An alternative is decorating the brown bags (cut and turned inside out as to not reveal the store logo of course) with festive holiday colors.

Old Magazines, comics, maps, newspaper:

These can all be fun wrapping paper! Think comics for a child, or the finance section for a man's wallet. You can use the housing section for a household item, or a colorful animal picture from an old magazine for zoo tickets. Think outside the box and match to the gift and or person and it will look so intentional, no one will consider that you are recycling.

Use what you have:

Instead of running out and buying new paper, why don't you use what you have to make festive holiday paper? All you need to do is turn paper you already have inside out to reveal white -- then decorate or let your children decorate it in holiday colors. This way you are not consuming more, and using up what you already have.

You can skip the wrapping paper all together:

Depending on the gift that is. Suppose you are giving someone freshly baked cookies. A decorative plate bought at the dollar store they can keep for future use, a little plastic wrap, and a pretty ribbon is all that is needed. Similarly, if something comes in a white box, such as a shirt, or a piece of jewelry, or wallet -- you can decorate the box it came in and tie with a bow to make a festive presentation.

Happy wrapping!