Reduce, Reuse & Recycle with These Eco Friendly Wrapping Paper Ideas
It’s about that time to break out the wrapping paper and get those gifts under your and your loved ones’ trees. Instead of buying a roll of wrapping paper this season, consider one of these sustainable wrapping paper alternatives. Before discovering more sustainable options, my wrapping jobs were usually very cookie cutter and unoriginal. After discovering these tips and hacks, I’ve upped my wrapping game and so can you! Not only do these ideas yield more unique, beautiful, and fun wrappings, they’re also SO much better for the environment and can often be reused over and over again.
Newspaper
One of the most reliable recycled wrapping paper materials is using newspaper to cover up the surprises you got your loved ones. I love this tip because there is a lot of room for customization if you use newspapers for wrapping. You can choose the section of the paper your recipient would most like to read, you can circle or block out words to make meaning, you can draw, fold, and stamp and the list goes on! I personally would love to receive a gift with newspaper wrapping, especially if the gifter went that extra mile to make it personal to me. If you’re looking for inspiration on how to make this wrapping idea happen, here are a few ideas:
Cloth
Cloth is probably my favorite sustainable wrapping material because of how endless the reuse opportunities are. They say reduce, reuse, recycle in that order for a reason! Reusing materials is always the easiest and most sustainable way to start. So, why not reuse scraps of fabric, clothing, or other pieces of cloth to wrap up gifts this holiday season? If you don’t already have cloth to wrap with, but really want to go for this cloth-wrapped look, it can always be more sustainable to buy wrapping that is meant to be reused than buying that single-use option. So, whether it’s bought or repurposed, cloth wrapping is one of the best reusable options out there! Here are a few cloth-wrapped inspiration pictures to fuel your cloth Christmas wrapping dreams:
Stamped Paper
So, you’ve got some paper to wrap with, but it doesn’t necessarily have that Christmas pizazz? Fret not, you can still reuse your butcher paper or other large pieces of scrap paper for wrapping. Instead of keeping the paper as-is, you can feel free to spice it up in your own way. One of the easiest options for this is by using stamps. Whether they are store bought, or homemade with a potato, stamping your paper with Christmas or other patterns will bring it to that next level. Not to mention, stamping is for sure not the only way you could be decorating your paper for wrapping. Paint, drawing, coloring, etc. are all other great options. Though if you do go the stamping route, here are some ideas to get you started:
Recycled Wrapping Paper
While this one might seem a little nuanced, recycled wrapping paper that is ready-to-use exists and is honestly WAY cooler than the normal stuff. Largely on Etsy, sellers of recycled wrapping paper use paper scraps and materials to create a new product that looks and feels just like the normal wrapping paper, but is a lot better for the environment. Did I mention that the designs on these recycled papers are cooler than anything I’ve seen in store? There are SO many options out there to choose from, so your dream wrapping paper might just be out there and recycled just for you! Here are some I love:
Spice it up with greenery
What’s more natural than, well, incorporating nature. Honestly adding in a little bit of greenery wherever you can in any aspect of your life is a great thing to do, especially if you want to feel more connected to the natural world. One way to do this that is oh-so beautiful, is to wrap greenery into your gift wrappings. This can be the cutest and sweetest thing to see under the tree and receiving a gift wrapped with greenery can feel more like a bundle of love than any other wrapping options. Here are some great inspiration pictures for wrappings done with greenery:
Which of these sustainable wrapping paper ideas do you like most? What other items can be reused or repurposed for gift-wrapping? Let us know in the comments!