12 Days of Underconsumption is a special series from one5c laying out everything you need to know to celebrate more sustainably.
12 Days of Underconsumption is a special series from one5c laying out everything you need to know to celebrate more sustainably.
All that glitters is definitely not recyclable. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 4 million to 5 million pounds of wrapping paper are produced every year, and half of it ends up rotting in landfills. That’s because many of the spools lining the racks at HomeGoods or Target become their glimmery selves thanks to a thin layer of plastic. “Plain old wrapping paper is readily recyclable, but so much of the wrapping paper that is sold and is appealing and sparkly and lovely is plasticized,” explains Jean Ponzi, an environmental educator at the Missouri Botanical Garden’s EarthWays Center. In other words, anything glittery, super shiny, or reflective means the paper likely has a plastic coating and is destined for the dump. The same rules apply to most tape, ribbons, and gift bags, too.
Your holiday haul doesn’t need to go commando, though. Kids tearing into gifts is the stuff memories are made of, and that gleeful carnage is a huge dopamine hit for both the little ones and the grown-ups watching it all go down. There are tons of creative ways to wrap presents that avoid those glimmering plastic papers—that aren’t just brown paper packages.
Good: Recyclable wrapping paper
Paper has the best recycling rate (about 68%) of any of the reclaimable materials we chuck, so it’s possible for wrapping to be a gift that keeps on giving, sustainably speaking. When picking out your annual ration, look for paper with a matte finish or a slightly rough texture, both strong signs that the stock’s recyclable. Some rolls are even explicitly marked as recyclable—just be sure to read the label closely to ensure the company’s not only referring to the cardboard tube in the middle of the spool—or made from postconsumer materials like newsprint. Once the kids have ripped open their spoils, remove any tape, ribbons, and other embellishments, and you can put that paper right into the blue bin. If you’ve got scraps of unknown provenance, try scrunching it; if it stays in a tight ball, it’s likely recyclable.
Better: Found paper
Most of our homes are already full of paper of varying colors, sizes, and themes. Use items like magazines, catalogs, packing paper, comic books, and even, per Ponzi’s suggestion, a wall calendar as alternatives to traditional gift wrap. In short supply? Remember that around 20 million newspapers go out each day; if you don’t receive one, ask a neighbor for a paper they’re done with or check if the local library has any editions from previous days.
Best: Reusable wrapping
The absolute ideal approach to wrapping presents is to reach for something reusable. “Look for material from other things in your life—other things that you use—and reconfigure how you think of packaging,” Ponzi says. This can mean building a box of gift bags, boxes, and ribbons from holidays past that makes an annual appearance from the basement. Or it can also mean trying the Japanese tradition of furoshiki, or wrapping gifts in fabric, and reaching for whatever textiles you have on hand like scarves, cloth napkins, or even baby blankets. The options are virtually limitless, so we’ve tossed a few more favorites onto a Pinterest board to guide you as you dress up your gifts.