Eco-Friendly Wrapping, Crafting & Gifting

    ~Have Fun, Save Money, Gift Kindly, Help the Planet~

I am by no means a crafting expert, but I do enjoy an easy and fun craft.  In addition, I am truly passionate about the environment and always looking for ways to up-cycle or reuse anything!  Including wine corks~which made this simple up-cycled cork Christmas tree ornament.

With, "going green" a huge movement, you might think more people would opt for greener gifting and wrapping. Turns out that our irresistible attraction to glistening wrapping paper and foil bows are filling landfills by the tons.  And would you believe that half of the paper America consumes is used to wrap and decorate gifts. Yikes!
Here are a few other details about the waste of wrapping and gifting:

• From Thanksgiving to New Year's Day, household waste increases by more than 25%. Added food waste, shopping bags, packaging, wrapping paper, bows and ribbons all adds up to an additional 1 million tons a week to our landfills. (Source: EPA)
  
  
• In the U.S., annual trash from gift-wrap and shopping bags totals 4 million tons. (Source: Use Less Stuff)
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  If every family reused just two feet of holiday ribbon, the 38,000 miles of ribbon saved could tie a bow around the entire planet. (Source: CalRecycle)

If you're like me, I find these numbers startling...which encourages me to do something different...and fun!

        ~A few enjoyable ways to reduce waste & add a personal touch to your gifts~

 

Re-Use packing paper, brown paper bags, the back of wrapping paper, old maps, etc., add your own message. Paint a greeting, use stamps, stickers, glue, markers, glitter, etc.  Kids (and adults) of all ages enjoy the fun of making their own wrapping paper, and I guarantee that their loved ones will enjoy receiving gifts wrapped in one-of-a-kind, made-with fun & love paper! (shhhh...My brother is receiving his gift wrapped in the paper shown here!) This is a great activity to do for birthdays and all occasions.

Re-Use last years Christmas Cards as a candy (cane) gram! Simply rip apart card at seam, (recycle the back side) and punch 2 holes along one side of the card. Slip the candy cane thru the holes. Write a personalized note on the back side of the card. I find these perfect to use as gift tags or for classroom, business networking, or when gifting large groups.  This is also a great way to reuse birthday and other holiday cards. Instead of a candy cane, use a pencil, glitter pen, tea stick, etc.
 

Re-Use candle holders, jam and jelly jars, decorative food tins, etc. Instead of tossing , why not upcycle? Candle, food, and holiday containers are typically beautiful and perfect for holding small gifts or home-made goodies.  Simply clean containers, jars, and tins with hot water to remove wax, food, etc., then fill with gift items.  Pictured here, I've used an old snowman candle, cleaned out the wax, and filled with Shaklee Pomegranate Energizing Tea Sticks.  Get creative! Fill containers with homemade granola, healthy snacks, lotions, plants, book mark, colored pencils, dried herbs, seasonings, office supplies, gift cards, etc.  These containers are great for gift giving of any occasion and for storage around the house, office, and garage as well. 

Re-Use small clay or other flower pots to make mini Christmas trees with pine cones. Another activity that looks adorable yet doesn't take a craft wizard to create!  Simply paint pine cones and/or decorate with dried berries, miscellaneous craft items, fabric scraps, mini-tree decorations, glitter, pipe cleaners, ribbons, etc. and hot glue cone onto a decorated clay or small flower pot.  These make great gifts, but be sure to keep some for yourself. We've had these mini pine cone trees for years; they have packed away well and by placing cinnamon sticks in their storage bin, they smell lovely too!

There are many ways for us to be thoughtful in gifting and at the same time be thoughtful to the Planet. 
 I hope these ideas have inspired you to think not only outside of the box, but also outside of  the traditional wrapping paper, and bows!  

I'd love to hear what eco-friendly ideas you've used to wrap & give gifts! Please share~

Merry Christmas, 

Denise Gaskell
Gaskell Healthy Solutions
gaskellwellness@comcast.net