1000 Flowers for the Planet - #328 Wrap Gifts With Flair

1000 Flowers for the Planet - #328 Wrap Gifts With Flair

Try a few recycling ideas for wrapping gifts and be as inventive and creative as you like. Reuse wrapping paper, bows and ribbons – plenty will come your way over the course of a year. I remember my Nanna always saved the Christmas paper, gathering it all up on the day and then giving it to me a few days later to remove the sticky tape, flatten it out nicely and fold it ready for next Christmas. She was from the generation who made it through the Great Depression and knew the value of recycling. There’s nothing wrong with reusing gift wrap.

Alternatively, you can find all types of paper lying around ready to be creatively used as wrapping paper. Try old maps, brown paper, newspaper, or the coloured plastic that comes with a floral arrangement or cut flowers. If you have any leftover paint, even house paint, use it up by painting boxes that come in the mail, or boxes from new products you bought during the year. Set a Christmas challenge, with a goofy prize, for the person who comes up with the funniest or strangest or most inventive wrapping idea.

Of course, we could always decide that presents don’t need to be wrapped. The gift is in the giving, not the wrapping. We could alter our expectations and save the planet from a whole lot of wasted resources and subsequent landfill. Just a thought.