That's a Wrap! The Benefits of Recycling Gift Wrap

As we approach the Christmas gift giving season, I came across an intriguing display in our local grocery store... bows made out of paper rather than plastic! They come in a variety of fetching colours, and the reason they jumped out at me was that they looked "dull" compared to the normal shiny gift bows.

You know the bows I'm talking about... these ones... that look shiny and picture perfect. They come in bags of a dozen or two dozen and we've been using them since... well... since as long as I can remember.

Although... given that my Mom learned frugality during wartime/post-war shortages... we always reused our bows. We'd stick a bit of folded scotch-tape underneath the bow and tape it to the gift. On Christmas, we'd all carefully pull the bows off so they, and the paper, could be reused again.

But those shiny plastic bows are not recyclable. They are made out of some plastic/paper composite and... pretty as they are, they aren't good for the environment. Nor is most of the gift wrap - the shiny, sparkly paper that is also a composite... if it doesn't hold it's shape when it's scrunched into a ball... it's not pure paper.

And somehow... over the years, I lost the habit of saving wrapping paper. We no longer slide a paring knife under the tape to open the gift carefully. No... it's a rip-tear fest and the paper gets tossed in the garbage. Which goes against my eco-heart.

Now... we haven't bought "new" gift wrap for years. We just go to the thrift store and buy rolls there. We aren't fancy about our wrapping paper. Although... back in my 30s... I read a minimalism book which had some interesting suggestions. But white wrapping paper (new) and then use different coloured ribbons and bows to add some pizz-azz to the gift. The white paper and ribbons could be used for birthdays, bridal showers, Christmas... any occasion really. And I did that for a while... until it became too hard to find plain white paper.

I know there are much simpler, more eco-friendly gift wrap ideas out there... use fabric... use newspaper... use brown paper... The temptation, always, I think... is to now go out and buy a roll of brown paper, and some fancy doodads to tie onto the gift... or make it fancy somehow with extras fancy string or whatever.

The key though, I believe... is to use what you have at hand. Use brown paper bags from the grocery store. Use old bits of string. It doesn't have to be fancy. It doesn't have to be store-bought...

In the meantime... we will continue to use up the rolls of gift wrap that we have and maybe... this Christmas... I can get us back in the habit of opening gifts carefully... so that we can save the paper for another day, another year.