With all the presents you bought for the holidays from organic pajamas to bamboo sheets, you now have to decide how to wrap them all! There are some ways you can make your wrapping more eco-friendly.
First, be mindful of what you use to stuff your packages. Instead of using Styrofoam peanuts or plastic bubble wrap, look around your house instead. Do you have a shredder? Use the paper you have shredded! Have peanuts or popcorn in your pantry? This is another great way to cushion small items. I have even seen tree needles used! You will be amazed at how many biodegradable items you can use for stuffing by just looking around your house.
Have some left over chip bags from your early Christmas parties? Cut them open to reveal the shiny white or silver lining. Then wash the bag with soap and water and let it air dry. After it dries, you are all ready to wrap your presents (silver/white side out).
Have a ton of paper shopping bags? You can easily repurpose them into gift wrap. I like to have my kids decorate the paper. However, if you don’t have helpers like that handy, you can easily wrap your gift in the paper. Then use a wine cork dipped into ink (or dark fruit juice) and use it to stamp patterns on the paper.
If you have kids, you have a ton of artwork lying around the house. This makes perfect gift wrap (especially for family members)!
I’ve written about this next tip before, because my grandmother swears by it. If you are careful unwrapping gifts, you can actually reuse wrapping paper from year to year. A warm iron will take out all of the creases and wrinkles.
And you’ll need tags for all these gifts! The best tags for your Christmas gifts are made from last year’s Christmas cards. I like to cut the prettiest scenes out. The back of the picture is blank (since most people sign the other side of the card), and you can write a heartfelt message to the recipient. You can easily cut these out for whatever size you need.
Now, if you have to ship gifts, the United States Postal Service (USPS) has a way for you to ship your gifts greener! USPS has Cradle to Cradle Certification for their environmentally green Priority Mail and Express Mail packaging. All postage products (i.e. stamps) also are Cradle to Cradle certified. Best of all, you don’t have to go to your local post office to get these. You can order your shipping supplies online and print your shipping label at home! Your local postman will then drop off your order and even pick the packages you ship right from your front door! And that mail truck that comes to your house? Well, the postal service is introducing into their fleet both hybrids and vehicles with zero gas emissions.
The holidays are so much work with shopping, wrapping, and shipping. However, these easy to do ideas will hopefully lead you to a greener holiday season!
Make sure to visit Green Earth News’ Green Is Grand section for more on eco-friendly living and gifting!
Related posts:
- Dreaming Of A Green Christmas: Tips For An Eco-Friendly Holiday!
- Countdown To Christmas: Out Of The Box Gift Ideas For Eco-Friendly Presents!
- Go Green With No Evergreen: Christmas Tree Alternatives For The Holidays!
- Funky, Fun and Eco-Friendly – Great Christmas Gifts For Everyone!
- How To Make A Christmas Parol (Philippine Christmas Star)!
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