Use Newspaper, Magazines, and Recycled Materials for Packing & Shipping Your Holiday Presents

We are fortunate to never have to buy packing or shipping materials in my household, simply because we buy a lot of materials from Amazon for our home business. Amazon uses large boxes filled with all sorts of packing materials, even for small items. It's a bit of a waste on their part, but we never let it go to waste around here.

I use both the left-over boxes, as well as the packing material inside for sending gifts during the holidays, as well as for sending packages at other times of the year. The left-over boxes and shipping material can also be useful for making the gifts themselves, whenever cardboard is needed.

When I have a shortage of left-over shipping supplies, I like to use crumpled newspapers and used magazines or catalogs as shipping materials. It is important to crumple the paper so that it acts as a cushion, especially for breakable material. Cardboard from used boxes that have been broken down can be used for sturdy spacing, if there is too much room in the box for the items.

Newspaper comics usually look great not only for packing gifts that are being shipped, but for wrapping gifts as well. The comics aren't the only pages that look great, however. I also like to use the travel section, and any other pages of the newspaper that have beautiful scenic pictures. Used magazine pages, and even catalog pages sometimes contain beautiful, glossy photos that can be used for a more refined look, either as shipping material or wrapping paper.

In my immediate family, we also have an understanding that whenever we use a gift bag, it should be saved and reused the next year. We have done this for years, and still have gift bags from 10 years ago that we still use today. We also reuse the tissue in the bags as long as we can. When that wears out, we replace it with pretty, sparkly, holiday cellophane that can be reused for years without wearing out.

All of these options for recycling materials make sense not only for the environment, but also for your wallet. It's wonderful to be free from having to buy wrapping paper, bows, and shipping material for every present. The amount of waste, and number of trees that would have to be cut down for such a small thing, when the present, and the thought is what matters most, would be a shame.