Unwrapping packaging during the holidays is always fun. But you know what’s not so fun? Waste. 

December has a ton of packages that are filled with holiday waste, and while it’s a great thing to get, the waste is not so great. 

But there are ways to create an eco-friendly wrapping experience that you will enjoy. 

Alternatives to this 

There are a lot of instances where gift wrapping is not eco friendly, however, you can make this eco friendly. There are some great ways to make your gift wrapping eco-friendly for the environment, in simple, effective ways.

First are gift bags. Did you know that you can get cotton gift bags that are fully biodegradable? You can use these to wrap your gifts, and it costs that wrapping paper at a minimum. Plus, it’s very fun to wrap all of the gifts inside, and you just have to throw it in there, close it, and then place it underneath the tree.

You can also wrap your stuff in linen or a square scarf. There are ways to do this so that it’s easy for you to unwrap it.  

Turkish towels, tea towels, and even pillowcases you’re not using anymore are great options. You can also reuse these for other gifts that are oddly wrapped. 

There are some wrapping paper options that are recyclable. If you do choose this, make sure that you’ve got the wrapping paper separated so that the non-recyclable paper isn’t in the way.  You can also bring this to recycling centers, especially if you put the name of the recipient on every single gift. 

Upcycling is in, so you can also use this.  grocery bags that are paper, or even newspapers are a great way to wrap these presents. Plus, what’s cool about brown bags is that you can literally decorate these if you want to, or you can just leave them untouched to make them more natural. 

Getting rid of holiday Packaging 

When you’re trying to get rid of holiday packaging, you want to make sure that you’ve got a system in place for proper disposal of the paper.  You need different waste containers that are used for unwrapping. Normal garbage bags are great for ribbons and bows, if they’re unable to be reused.  There is also the option of boxes for newspaper and regular paper.  Plastic packaging should also be separated, so make sure to get another container.

For newspaper materials, you can usually recycle this, provided you get rid of the stickers and other paper decoration. 

One that’s trickier however, is tissue paper.  It’s recyclable in most cases, but if there is glitter on it, into the trash! Glitter actually is made up of tiny pieces of plastic, so they can’t be recycled. 

Because tissue paper is typically used for small time periods, try to use it again and again as much as you can. When it’s near the end of the usage life, check with recycling centers, since they may take it.  if this isn’t dyed, you can also compost it.

Plastic packaging is unique, because sometimes you can recycle it.  check the components for the symbols to see what you can do.  if there is any bubble wrap, o r packaging peanuts, then it’s not recyclable, even if it looks green, it may not be able to be done. Always check too to make sure that they’re biobased, otherwise you throw that in the garbage.

Holiday packaging is a little all over the place, but here we went over what types of packaging goes where when it comes to disposal.