The repetitive cycle of buying gift wrap that’ll usually end up in the trash does not align with the idea of being environmentally conscious. Make a change to support the ‘Go Green’ movement with these 6 eco-friendly gift wrapping ideas. You can also find more tips on how to get yourself closer to zero waste here!
1. Fabric Wrapped
Spare fabrics from old couch covers, napkins or tabletops can all be recycled as wrapping fabric for the gift. You can also utilise printed fabrics in a Japanese furoshiki gift wrapping technique like this to add texture and colour to the overall presentation. Bonus Tip: the fabric can be reused as tablecloth again!
2. Pretty Cereal
Photo Credits: Recycle Girl-Ren
Don't throw any cereal boxes away! They can be reused to create whimsical and sturdy gift boxes for your family and friends with this template. You can also make gift bags and funny gift tags with it too! There's a whole lot of techniques and templates available online that can help you create the most suitable recycled box to fit your gift.
3. Mason Jars
Photo Credits: Musely
Save and reuse glass jars or mason jars from condiments to prep for the gifting season in the later months. You can store and gift a ‘survival’ pack filled with curated items like bathbombs, essential-oil-infused toiletries, mini-perfume spray bottles and more (based on the receiver)! To personalise it even further, you can decorate the exterior with a mix of glued-on pom-poms, coloured stickers, or marker doodles to give a hint of what’s lying inside the jar.
4. Paper Prints
Photo Credits: Food52
Reusable papers are the next most available material to reduce paper waste! It can range from newspapers, plain envelopes, or your children's paper drawings. You can even personalise the recycled paper by creating stamp prints with kitchen scraps. Here’s how you can recycle your produce scraps!
5. Clothe it up!
Photo Credits: Pinterest
Recycled clothing can also be reused in unique ways. Cut out ribbed-collars to add texture (or even a human-like personality to the gift), or cuffs with buttons to create a unique and memorable gift bag.
6. Collage Crafts
Photo Credit: GMA Network
A collage of newspaper comic prints, eccentric magazine motifs and funny cartoons can add cheekiness and humour to the gift bag. String colourful fonts to make witty headlines or create characters by collaging different imagery. The chosen images can also be used as a hint to the gift inside the wrapping paper!
