With only a short time until Christmas, everyone will be rushing out to buy wrapping paper for their gifts. It is estimated that during the holiday season there is an increase of 25% in garbage from paper and boxes that are thrown away. Using re-used materials to wrap just three gifts will save enough paper to cover 45,000 football fields. If every family used two feet less ribbon, the 38,000 miles of ribbon saved would wrap around the planet. Something to think about when we are making our bows and buying our wrapping paper this year. Many papers have dangerous dyes and inks and I am sure that glitter is not good either. According to Eco-chick.com most paper will have tape on it also which is not good for the recycling process. If you do use wrapping paper or you receive wrapped gifts, try to save the paper to re-use. Some people are buying “green” gifts that the stores are promoting which is a step in the right direction. Many good ideas include solar powered products. But, even more important than the gift may be how we wrap it. There are many ways to be creative. If you have children, let them help. They always come up with ideas. You can make the wrapping part of the gift. Get a basket to fill with items, a decorated box or use a resuable tote bag. Children love to draw. Let them decorate the box. You can use fabric to wrap presents in or to make cloth bags. It will be fun to use your imagination to come up with ideas instead of using the standard store bought papers. Your gift recipients will be impressed with the thought you put into their gift. Be proud to be part of the green movement and let your friends know why you are wrapping the gifts the way you do. This is a good opportunity to spread the word. You can find beautiful ‘green’ shopping bags in all the stores. These are perfect to put your gift in. If you knit, you can make a bag. Instead of spending the money on paper you will throw away, why not let the bag be an extra gift. The comics from your newspaper are a great way to wrap kids presents; saves you money also. You can make a pecan pie or bake cookies. These do not have to be wrapped. There are many things you can give without wrapping them. As you celebrate this holiday season, have fun experimenting with different ideas. We get caught up in doing things in the same traditional ways and sometimes a change can be a welcoming surprise. There is no better time than now to become imaginative. Enjoy!
