Despite our best intentions, many of us produce more waste in December than at any other time of the year. With a little planning, however, we can avoid adding up to 25 per cent more trash to our garbage can this month.
If you are gearing up to wrap gifts in the next couple of weeks, consider these creative and eco-friendly alternatives to wrapping paper:
Reduce:
• Gift an experience, such as a family outing, homemade coupons for doing household chores or tickets to an event.
• Send your loved one on a treasure hunt through the house to find the unwrapped gift.
• Blindfold the recipient and have them guess the unwrapped gift by feel.
• Make the packaging part of the gift. Wrap with a tablecloth, dish towel, fabric napkin or other textiles.
• Learn furoshiki, a Japanese fabric-wrapping art. You will be amazed at all the ways you can fold a simple, square piece of cloth.
Reuse:
• If you salvaged last year’s wrapping paper and ribbon, you are already set.
• Visit your local thrift store for great deals on gently used gift bags and secondhand cards.
Upcycle:
• Sew together reusable fabric bags using torn clothing or material from a thrift store. These can be kept in the family and used for years to come.
• Make your own gift cards from colourful clothing tags, a decorated cereal box or any number of other crafty odds and ends.
• Create a potato “stamp” and decorate plain paper or a grocery bag for some homemade wrapping paper.
• Wrap your gift in music paper, the pages of this newspaper or pages from a colouring book.
• Bows and string can be fashioned from bits of rope, paper and yarn you have around the house.
These simple tips will give your wrapping a personal touch while also reducing your footprint. What a great gift to offer the planet this holiday season.
Let’s Talk Trash is Powell River Regional District’s waste-management education program.
