How to Make Your Gift Wrapping More Sustainable
Let me start by saying, I love wrapping presents. It started when I was little helping my mum wrap the Christmas presents. All that anticipation for the big day and spending that time with her making beautiful things was a potent mix for a life long love. Back in the 90s that metallic foil that you could curl over the blade of your scissors was all the rage, so I’m not sure it would pass my test for a beautiful end product today, and even worse, it definitely wasn’t kind to the planet.
Wrapping presents can be quite wasteful, with things used once and tossed in the bin, but such is my love of the perfect looking present, and our planet, I’ve been determined to make it more environmentally friendly. As such, here are some ideas if you’re similarly minded.
Shiny and glittery paper is out, quality matte paper is most definitely in.
Most metallic paper and anything with glitter on it can’t be recycled, so I’ve stopped buying these. Instead I try to invest in really good quality wrapping paper from companies that source their paper responsibly and print with inks that are degradable. Cambridge Imprint are one of my favourites. Brown paper also makes for really stylish looking presents - in fact it is my husbands favourite thing to see on a present he is giving or receiving. A few years ago I started reusing the brown paper that comes in boxes with online orders, only for my husband to ask where I’d found such a good quality brown paper as he was enjoying it so much.
I’ve found that quality papers stand up to multiple uses, providing tape is carefully pealed off and it’s nice seeing designs I’ve bought make their way back to me in presents I receive from friends and family.
This brings me onto my next point:
Looking after your paper is all about choosing the right sticky tape.
Sellotape is a complete no-no; it’s plastic and you’re definitely not going to be able to get it off without ripping what’s underneath. Scotch tape is better - it’s adhesive is more compatible with removal, but it’s still plastic. If you need some tape, the best you can do is washi tape - it’s made of paper and is typically biodegradable, and you can peel it off.
I’m still working on getting good enough at tying a ribbon round a present so that no tape is required. In fact, just writing this makes me wonder if blue tack might be the solution to a temporary hold whilst I get my ribbon looking just right. Excuse me whilst I abandon writing to go and experiment.
Consider ribbon as a long term investment.
When I was about 18 or 19 my Mum and I came across some truly beautiful ribbon in John Lewis, but it seemed so expensive. In the end my Mum got some - such was the beauty - and since then we’ve been using it on Christmas presents. More than 15 years of cutting the frayed edges off later there isn’t much of it left, but I like to incorporate a bit of it into every Christmas, in honour of the ribbon that is probably the reason I have a ribbon collection.
I also like to collect ribbon from all sorts of places that might otherwise end up in the bin, like thin strips of fabric off cuts from my dress making projects, the handles from paper bags that have fallen to pieces and ribbon that comes tied round items I’ve bought, like bedding.
Like good wrapping paper, ribbon can be passed between friends and family for many years to come.
A present wrapped in brown kraft paper that came in a parcel and tied with an off cut of fabric from a skirt I made for myself, finished with a hand embroidered gift tag.
Reuse your gift tags.
And reuse other people’s ideas. A few Christmases ago, my Mum started collecting up the gift tags from Christmas presents to use again - after all, To Mimi, Merry Christmas, Love Mum & Dad, is never going out of fashion in our house. And now I’ve started doing it too. The key to this, and most of the other tips in this blog, is to invest in something that will last for years in the first place, and it was out of this that the idea for the embroidered gift tag was born. Not only are the infinitely reusable, but they also look beautiful displayed around the house until they’re ready to be called up for service on a gift.
You can find out more about my embroidered gift tags here.
If you’re anything like me, you’re mostly giving presents to the same small group of people and you know them well enough to get your gift tags back!
Try the Japanese art of furoshiki (wrapping with fabric).
Fabric is much more hard wearing than paper, and gives you the option to hugely increase the life span of your wrapping. It’s even better if you go second hand with your fabric too, meaning this is the perfect reason to set up an eBay saved search for vintage Liberty scarves.
In conclusion
Because if I learnt anything in English lessons in school, it was the importance of a summary at the end. So here goes… If you want to increase the environmentally friendliness of your wrapping, start by scavenging waste materials from other areas of your life, and if you need to buy, invest in good quality materials that will stand up to being used again and again. Then go out and recruit your friends and family to the cause, so you can witness the recycling on your next birthday!
I could wax lyrical about this topic for hours, in fact I think this might end up being a series of blogs, but I’d love to hear about any of your eco-friendly wrapping ideas.
Reading this blog back, it’s amused me how influential my mother has been - I think she will be surprised because she doesn’t really like wrapping presents.