Recycling wrapping paper
If you're determined to buy wrapping paper instead of making your own, you can look for the Blue Angel seal. Once you spot the seal, you can be sure it's entirely recycled.
Products marked with the "FSC" seal are made from sustainably sourced raw materials.
If you can hold back your excitement and unwrap the gifts you receive with a little tact, you can also reuse the wrapping paper instead of throwing it away . This also applies to bows and ribbons, of course.
Gift wrap made from newspapers & magazines
It doesn't always have to be brand-new wrapping paper. Gifts wrapped in newspaper or, depending on the size , magazine pages are also very pretty. Even shipping tubes (pictured below right) or empty cereal boxes, for example, can be embellished with a ribbon and thus make for sustainable gift wrapping !
Other ways you can reuse things for gift wrapping :
* Sheet music
* Comics
* Maps & city plans
* Expired calendar pages
* Wrapping paper
* Wallpaper remnants
Furoshiki
What sounds like a new kind of sushi is actually the art of gift wrapping in cloth. Originally used by the Japanese as a sling for carrying clothes and other goods, furoshiki evolved into sustainable gift wrapping.
There are many instructions circulating on the Internet on how you can best present your gifts using all kinds of fabrics.
Here you can find a video from "SWR" that explains the different ways you can best wrap your gifts with fabric in the Furoshiki style.
We're sure you have some fabric scraps waiting in your sewing and crafting box. Otherwise, the recipient will certainly appreciate a gift within a gift—if you organize a pretty scarf that also serves as wrapping.
Tin cans & jars as gift packaging
Upcycling jute bags & shipping boxes
Jute bags are also a great option. You've probably bought mandarins in small jute bags at the supermarket before. Alternatively, you can ask at your local recycling center ; they often give away jute bags! Alternatively, your local hardware store is also a good place to start.
The post office is extremely busy these days – and we all know what it's like to have packages piling up at home. Have you ever thought about reusing them as gift wrapping? You can decorate them however you like and give them a truly unique, personalized gift!
