Eco Friendly Christmas Wrapping

Wrapping presents is something I really love doing but the amount of paper that can get wasted isn’t something that sits well with me. Today I thought I’d share some eco friendly Christmas wrapping ideas so you can still have gorgeously wrapped pressies with a little less impact on the planet.

If you missed my first two Christmas posts you can find my ethical Christmas decorations here and my guide to planning a sustainable Christmas here!

Eco friendly Christmas wrapping

Dress Up Some Brown Paper

Untreated plain brown paper is one of my favourite wrapping options, it hasn’t gone through lots of processing so it uses less resources to create and it’s also easily recycled so it’s a much more eco-friendly option. It doesn’t need to be boring though, there are endless ways to dress it up. Some of my favourites include:

  • stamped with non-toxic paints (even better if you get your kids to do the stamping!)
  • tied with gorgeous ribbons (bonus points if they’re reused!)
  • decorated with coloured twine (bamboo or hemp twine is best)

Reuse Newspaper or Children’s Art

If you’re still getting news delivered in paper form or you have more kid’s art than you know what to do with then repurpose them into some gorgeous eco-friendly Christmas wrapping. Newspaper is a classic option, particularly paired with red ribbon or twine and children’s art is hard to beat, particularly for relatives that might not get to see the kids throughout the year!

Try Cloth Wrapping

Cloth is a fantastic eco friendly Christmas wrapping option (actually, not just for Christmas!) because firstly you can use up any cloth you might have lying around and secondly you can reuse the same cloth over and over! Christmas tea-towels are also a great option for this, you can’t beat a wrapping option that is actually useful! The Japanese are masters of cloth wrapping (known as furoshiki) and the guide below shows how to wrap just about any shape!

Eco friendly Christmas wrappingChoose Bags and Boxes

Giftbags and boxes are usually easy to reuse as they’re not as likely to get torn up and covered in tape as paper is. Again, it’s best to avoid any of the shiny options as eventually they will need to be disposed of (there’s only so many times you can use one bag!) so you want to make sure they can end up in the recycling. If you shop anywhere that gives out plain brown paper bags then save them up in the lead-up to Christmas and you can decorate them in the same way as mentioned before!

Buy Recycled Paper

For any wrapping paper you do need to buy try and find gift wrap made out of recycled paper. You might not be able to pick it up from your supermarket or local Kmart, but lots of organic stores and the like get eco friendly wrapping options in for Christmas so it’s worth keeping an eye out. If not, there’s always online options like the Oxfam shop!

Avoid Cellophane & Shiny Wrapping Paper

That shiny wrapping paper you find in shops is unfortunately not recyclable so whilst it might be pretty it’s really not an eco-friendly option so it’s best to avoid it. The same goes for cellophane, so skip it wherever possible.

Eco friendly Christmas wrapping

There’s lots of gorgeous examples of all these eco friendly Christmas wrapping options over on Pinterest, so if you’re not following I Spy Plum Pie over there now’s a good time as I’m always finding & sharing more!

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4 Comments on Eco Friendly Christmas Wrapping

  1. merilyn
    December 10, 2014 at 9:12 am (9 years ago)

    naturally I’m all for these ideas thanks liz!
    love the cloth wrap maybe a new tea towel doubles as a present!
    I recycle all old papers and make art pieces out of debris! printouts from the computer are useful too for small objects!
    have a good day! love m:)X

    Reply
    • I Spy Plum Pie (admin)
      December 15, 2014 at 6:30 pm (9 years ago)

      Tea towels make great wrapping! I’ve done that for housewarming presents before, you can never have too many tea towels!

      Reply
  2. Kristy
    December 10, 2014 at 9:32 am (9 years ago)

    These are great ideas. This year I spent a little more money on wrapping and purchased Typo’s fabric gift bags to put everyone’s gifts in and then they can use it as a Santa sack next year.

    Reply
    • I Spy Plum Pie (admin)
      December 15, 2014 at 6:31 pm (9 years ago)

      What a great idea!

      Reply

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