Everybody loves giving a thoughtful gift to their loved ones. Especially when the holiday season or a birthday approaches, we spend a lot of time trying to come up with the perfect present for that special someone. Rarely, if ever, does the same amount of planning and thought go into the gift’s wrapping. While we appreciate when a gift is beautifully wrapped, the wrapping is usually instantly thrown out once the gift is opened. This is where the problem lies. Zero Waste Vancouver, a Canadian advocacy group, estimates that each Canadian household throws out 25% more garbage over the holiday season than the rest of the year. In total, 540,000 tonnes of gift wrap and gift bags are thrown out every year in Canada.
Low Waste Gift Wrapping
Only plain gift-wrapping paper can be recycled, but anything with glitter, foil or that it intensely dyed cannot. Many cities cannot even offer to recycle gift wrapping paper due to the labour-intensive process of picking out any unacceptable gift wrap items. Tape, gift bags and ribbons are also on the list of materials that cannot be recycled.The amount of holiday gift wrapping waste is staggering, and it is continuing to rise every year. We need to explore some eco-friendly birthday wrapping and sustainable Christmas wrapping ideas to help combat this problem. If each household makes even small changes to cut down on the amount of gift wrap waste, we can start to make a difference.
One of the most environmentally friendly ways to wrap your presents is to use something you already own and that the recipient will also keep to use for themselves. This way, there is no waste generated by what you choose to wrap the gift in. A great example is using a scarf you own as a cloth alternative to paper wrapping. You can also use a fabric tote bag in place of a gift bag so that it can be continued to be used after being received. A glass jar can be a nice re-usable gift-wrapping idea for cosmetics, food items or smaller gifts. The Japanese have a method of gift wrapping called furoshiki that uses a beautiful piece of cloth that can be tied in many decorative ways to wrap a present. This cloth is sometimes patterned or painted and can be kept and re-used by the recipient. In 2006, the Japanese Minister of the Environment Yuriko Koike promoted the art of furoshiki to help raise awareness for the reduction of single use plastics. This helped to increase the commonplace use of the furoshiki method both to carry and transport items and also for the use of gift wrapping. Many furoshiki cloths are ornately patterned in decorative designs and are a beautiful touch to any gift. There are many different ways to tie a furoshiki cloth to suit any shape or size of gift and to it can even be finished in a bow if desired.
If you’re looking to use more traditional-looking gift wrap, you can always save wrapping papers and ribbons from gifts you receive to be re-used. This helps avoid sending them to the landfill right away and gives you a chance to extend their life cycle by reusing them the next time you give a gift. Making eco-friendly choices does not always mean making a massive change, sometimes even these small efforts can add up to make a difference in the long run. There are so many amazing sustainable ways to wrap gifts out there, and they allow you to be imaginative to add a personal touch to your gifts. At Earthy Good, we believe in doing our part to make giving gifts a low-waste activity. With each of our DIY spa kits we’ve included a beautiful patterned furoshiki wrapping cloth. This makes our homemade spa kits an all-in-one low-waste gift idea. The square furoshiki cloth is extremely versatile and can be tied a multitude of ways to allow you to really personalize how you wrap your gift. We have also chosen beautiful patterns to make the furoshiki wrapping cloth something your recipient will want to keep and re-use.
To make your sustainable wrapping job fully recyclable, make sure to skip the tape. Use a natural fiber string to tie your gift shut instead. You can also re-purpose a hair ribbon you already own to add an eco-friendly gift ribbon to your present. There are ribbons made of natural materials such as cotton that can also be used for a sustainable version of the common plastic ribbons. If you still wish to use tape to seal your wrapping job, opt for a recyclable tape such as Japanese washi tape. Washi tape is typically made of hemp or bamboo and the self-adhesive is fully recyclable. There are many pretty patterned washi tapes that will add a decorative touch to your wrapping job. You can even think outside of the box and try using other items like a clothespin, safety pin or decorative brooch to seal your gifts shut.
If you’re looking to use more traditional-looking gift wrap, you can always save wrapping papers and ribbons from gifts you receive to be re-used. This helps avoid sending them to the landfill right away and gives you a chance to extend their life cycle by reusing them the next time you give a gift. Making eco-friendly choices does not always mean making a massive change, sometimes even these small efforts can add up to make a difference in the long run. There are so many amazing sustainable ways to wrap gifts out there, and they allow you to be imaginative to add a personal touch to your gifts. At Earthy Good, we believe in doing our part to make giving gifts a low-waste activity. With each of our DIY spa kits we’ve included a beautiful patterned furoshiki wrapping cloth. This makes our homemade spa kits an all-in-one low-waste gift idea. The square furoshiki cloth is extremely versatile and can be tied a multitude of ways to allow you to really personalize how you wrap your gift. We have also chosen beautiful patterns to make the furoshiki wrapping cloth something your recipient will want to keep and re-use.
Did you know each of our all-natural DIY kits comes with a Furoshiki?
For the perfect all-in-one ecofriendly gift, try gifting one of our kits!