Gift Wrapping: Green Ideas

Birthdays, Christmas, anniversaries, any occasion at all… Gifts are always welcome with anybody at any time. However, as your mother probably told you the very first time you set off to a part with a gift, having pretty wrapping is part of the etiquette of gift-giving. Not wrapping a gift or (even worse) presenting a gift still in the shopping bag takes some of the excitement and pleasure out of receiving something special (the exception here would be if you are presenting someone with something fabulously expensive - the contrast between gift and wrapping makes for an excellent surprise).

We'll take it for granted that you already know the basics about removing (or blacking out) any price labels and in making sure that the paper is appropriate for the occasion and/or the receiver (e.g. that you're not sending a birthday gift wrapped in Christmas paper - take note if you're giving a birthday present to someone who, like me, has a birthday very close to Christmas Day).

If you're environmentally conscious, the extravagance and (let's be frank) waste involved in wrapping paper can make you feel a bit guilty. But with a bit of creativity, some of this guilt can be avoided.

First of all, make sure that you use paper wrapping, not cellophane or plastic. There's not much you can do to re-use plastic/cellophane wrapping if it gets ripped, but paper has all sorts of uses. Having said that, remember that the gifts that others give you are a good source of gift wrappings, provided that you don't tear or crumple it, and that you take any labels off. With a particularly durable piece of wrapping paper, you could do what my family has done and start a tradition of seeing how many Christmases the piece can last. My family has been doing this and now, ten years on, I still have a few tiny bits left, barely big enough to make curly paper ribbons, but they're still going!

Incidentally to make curly paper ribbons to decorate a parcel (or a card), cut the paper you want to use into thin strips. Carefully drag these across closed scissor blades or the edge of a ruler, curling the ruler/scissors as you do so. This will put a curl into the paper, and the more times you drag the ribbon across the hard edge, the curlier it will get. Always make sure you drag the ribbon in the same direction - the inside of the curl goes against the hard edge.

Old wrapping paper can be re-used for a number of things. Some examples include collage activities, scrapbooking, making cards and making envelopes (not as hard as you might think). When I was at school, my mother used to cover my exercise books with old wrapping paper - much cheaper than the plasticised covers that kids these days seem to demand. Once you have used and re-used the paper as much as you can, it can always be recycled, composted, used for lighting fires, lining drawers, etc. etc.

You can also find some good wrappings that aren't bought on a roll at the local stationer's shop. Old calendars have considerable potential and look quite striking (I tried this with a gift my seven-year-old daughter took to a party and had a number of the other mothers exclaiming what a good idea that was). Also try fabric, or even a nice wooden box to present a package.