on giftwrap

It didn't occur to me until earlier this week as I realized I still hadn't wrapped my Christmas gifts that most of the giftwrap options open to me weren't green ones. I headed to my local organic shop, and did discover some lovely (although not particularly Christmas-y) 100% recycled wrapping paper made with soy-based ink. However, it was also £1.49 a sheet, and the sheets weren't terribly big. Due to my very tiny budget, I ended up with giftwrap from WH Smith. However, this got me thinking about eco wrapping paper, as well as other more eco-friendly options for dressing up your gifts.

At Pristine Planet there are a number of options for handmade giftwrap using non-toxic dyes, post-consumer waste, shed tree bark, and other lovely things. A quick Google search will give you a number of options, however, you will most likely have to order them online. The non-eco stuff is what is cheap to stock, and unfortunately that's what you're most likely to find in Hallmark, WH Smith, and other chain stores.

If you want to take a more hands-on approach and forgo store-bought wrapping paper, you can create your own eco giftwrap. Green Planet Ethics gives some options such as using cloth, children's artwork (although, if you don't have kids, you can do it yourself to get a similar look. Finger painting, stamps made out of halved potatoes--use non-toxic paint and that's a well spent afternoon), magazine and newspaper pages, and even things like pinecones and holly in place of bows. Planet Forward has even more alternatives in place of store-bought products.

Next year, I plan to be more eco-friendly in my Christmas preparations. Instead of just getting a roll of store-bought paper and gift tags that only look homemade, I'll make my own. This way, I can also personalize each gift--write a message, decorate the wrapping using images I know that person likes. So much of Christmas is becoming just about gifts--about objects--placing less importance or full-on ignoring the reason why we give gifts in the first place: to make people happy. To let our friends and family know that we think about them, and love them, and miss them, and that while what we present them with is only a pale representation of what they mean to us, it is something that will let them know that there is someone who cares about them whenever they use or see their gift. Why can't the giftwrap do the same? Why does it have to be something to look at for a microsecond and then toss in the trash?

Personally, I think it can be a bit more.

(Image borrowed from here.)