I love wrapping presents. There’s something about wrapping packages tidily – the uniformity of it that I find soothing. I’ve always volunteered for gift wrapping activities. I’ve wrapped for friends and families but this year I feel differently. This year I feel guilty using wrapping paper and plastic tape and plastic ribbon. I just see it sitting in some dump somewhere and what’s the point? Sure, it looks pretty but is something that looks pretty for a matter of hours really worth the environmental impact?

So I’m working this year on some alternate methods of wrapping. I’ve gone all over the place online and I’ve found plenty of suggestions, but I have three favorites – and here are some examples!

Recycled Wrapping Paper

The easiest way to go greener with wrapping is to simply seek out recycled wrapping paper, like the example you see over to the right from Fish Lips Paper Designs. Plenty of places sell it and you won’t have to give up the pretty festive look beneath your tree. Of course, after the presents have been torn into on Christmas morning, you’ll want to separate the paper out and recycle it again.

Note: if you use tape to secure your packages then make sure you remove the tape from all the paper since it can’t be recycled!

Also, try to use raffia or look for recycled ribbon or ribbon made of organic materials.

Alternate Wrapping Paper

I have a four year old who loves to do artwork. I also get plenty of newspapers and we sometimes get paper bags from the grocery store if we’ve forgotten our reusable bags. That means I have plenty of raw material for wrapping gifts in my house. No, they won’t look as high end, but if you get some festive ribbon (or use what you have) or if you just push yourself a bit with some sharpies, your gifts can look charming and you can get your kids in on the fun.

First, I took newspaper from my local circular. I then put an abstract pattern of holly leaves and berries and a large pointsetta-like flower in the center.

I wrapped the package with tight seams and did not use any tape and then I tied the package with foil, recycled ribbon.

Another example – I used a brown paper bag and cut it up to flatten it out. Because this paper was a bit thicker, I used tape to make sure it stayed flat.

I had some extra festive ribbon from last year and I decided to use that to spruce up the look. I made my own large bow and then did some fun decorations around the brown paper.

Finally, tin foil can actually be excellent wrapping paper. I used regular tin foil but you can also get colored foil that has been recycled. No tape needed on this one and I used a contrasting recycled foil ribbon.

Re-Usable Gift Bags

If you’re feeling really ambitious, you can have some fun making reusable gift bags! I used some extra material scraps I had lying around. I didn’t have enough to make anything substantial so this way the material doesn’t go to waste! I also had a spare piece of ribbon so I just got my sewing machine out and two seams later, I had a simple, festive bag. I could have gotten fancier with this one but it only took me ten minutes.

I used the sewing machine to secure the ribbon on the bag and poof! I’ve recycled some materials sitting around in my home and the next gift-ee can reuse the bag on down the line!

So think about your gifts before you buy tons of wrapping paper, tape and ribbon. Think of the trees, the landfills and how you can reduce, re-use and recycle while you’re wrapping your packages!