How you can be a sustainable wrap star
Waste is a big concern for many households – be it financial waste, or just throwing things away when we could be finding ways to be more sustainable. Yet still, year on year, many of us are still covering gifts in disposable wrapping paper (which is often not even recyclable).
“Each Christmas, we get through an estimated 227,000 miles of wrapping paper in the UK – that’s enough to wrap around the Earth eight times,” says Thomas Panton, CEO and founder of Greenr (greenr. co.uk). “Like all paper, wrapping paper is made from trees and requires an enormous amount of water to produce,” he adds.
Not all of it can be recycled either. “If your roll has added plastics, glitter, and other non-paper materials, it’s best not to put it in your recycling bin,” says Thomas.
Recyclable wrapping paper will usually be labelled clearly as such.
But to check if yours is, Thomas suggests trying the ‘scrunch test’.
Scrunch your wrapping paper into a ball and if it doesn’t immediately spring back, it should be recyclable.
“Make sure you remove sticky tape and plastic decorations like bows and ribbons first, though,” he adds.
For a more sustainable – and possibly cheaper – alternative to traditional non-recyclable wrapping paper, try these ideas...
USE RECYCLED WRAPPING PAPER
“Getting wrapping paper made from recycled materials is a great start to reducing the impact of your gift wrap, using less water and energy than wrapping paper made from virgin materials,” says Thomas.
“Choosing sheets over rolls of paper can lead to less waste and removes the need for a cardboard tube.
“Re-wrapped make a range of affordable sheets with festive designs which come with swing-tags, all made from 100% post-consumer waste.”
GO OLD-FASHIONED WITH BROWN PAPER
“Brown packing paper can be a tasteful, vintage-looking option and you can even write and draw on the paper itself, making each gift unique and removing the need to buy separate gift tags,” says Thomas.
REUSE WHAT YOU’VE ALREADY GOT
“Reusing and repurposing old packages, boxes and even newspapers is a great way to create some free wrapping with a unique twist, and even theme the box depending on the gift. If you don’t have any laying around the house, just ask at a shop or supermarket,” Thomas suggests.
USE A FABRIC WRAP
Kirsty Brandon, head of sustainable living at Savemoneycutcarbon (save moneycutcarbon.com), says: “You can use beeswax wraps – you can buy large sheets and rolls you can cut to size. You can use a cotton material tote bag, which doubles up as an extra gift, or even a vintage silk scarf.”
Not only will gifts look gorgeous, the lucky recipients will get a bonus pressie with the packaging too.
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Insert all the remaining letters of the alphabet (except Z) in the grid so all the listed words are spelt out in this way.
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