12 Day of a GREEN Christmas- Day 4: Gift Wrapping

I love giving gifts and I also enjoy wrapping gifts in pretty paper and ribbons! I have memories of Christmases wrapping gifts with my dad, it’s something we did together. The sustainable solution to gift wrap does not exclude all gift wrapping. But you should know what’s recyclable, reusable, and compostable. Another alternative is to give gifts that do not require being wrapped. This year also consider a tradition of not wrapping Santa gifts.

Each year, approximately 4.6 million pounds of gift wrap is produced and about 2.3 million pounds ends up thrown away, this includes wrapping paper, tissue paper, and gift bags. Majority of wrapping whether recyclable or not ends up thrown away.

Can you recycle wrapping paper?

Yes, if it is plain and simple, non-laminated, and not too thin.  

It cannot be recycled if it has sparkles, glitter, sequins, foil, artificial texture, sticky gift labels, or plastic. It also cannot be recycled if there is excess tape, ribbons, or bows attached.

Try the “scrunch test”: squeeze the paper into a ball, if it keeps its shape it can be recycled, if it springs back to a flat form it cannot.

It’s important to properly sort the wrapping paper from non-recyclable paper. A lot of times at facilities, if there is a problem then the whole lot will be tossed. People send stuff to recycling centers all the time not knowing if it’s recyclable or not, it’s called “wishcycling”.

What type of wrapping can be composted?

To compost wrapping paper it depends on the type of paper. Plainer paper with less ink designs could be composted. Paper with heavy ink/ dye shouldn’t be composted as the ink can be toxic to the compost heap. All ribbons and plastic tape should be removed.

Reusable wrapping:

Wrapping paper and bags are not the only ways to wrap gifts! Consider a glass jar, metal tin, wrapping with fabric (a Japanese style called Furoshiki), fabric bags, baskets, and dish towels. This is a time to get creative!