The season of giving is right around the corner and all your thoughtful Christmas gifts are ready to be wrapped! But with all the wrappers and ribbons that end up unused and thrown away once gifts are opened, it’s time we switch things up. So if you’re worried about making your gifts look perfect without all the waste that could harm the earth later on, professional organizer Mica Canto has got the solutions for you!
Mica has been aiming to keep up the talks of zero-waste practices in all things organization and design–including gift-wrapping! So we got in touch with her to find out how to get our gift-wrapping both neat and sustainable just in time for the holidays. Read on for Mica’s helpful gift-wrapping tips and tricks!
Gift-giving should always be thoughtful, creative, and well-planned. I keep a master list of all the people I give gifts to for the Holidays and have a record per year of what I’ve given them. It’s good to take note of what your “giftees” would appreciate and to think about the possible clutter your gifts would cause in their home–especially for kids’ toys.
Our list has evolved through the years, especially now that I’m more mindful with our purchases. Last year we gave books, food packaged in bottles, wood platters for entertaining–anything that had less to do with plastic and would be presentable enough with just a ribbon and a card.
We try to embrace a more sustainable lifestyle at home. For items that needed to be wrapped, last year we used brown Kraft paper instead of traditional wrapping paper. Christmas is still festive so I made it a DIY project with the kids and we painted the Kraft paper instead.
Everyone is always faced with a mountain of wrapping paper and ribbons after Christmas so if you can give gifts that look pretty enough without any wrapping paper or packaging, that is the most sustainable option. If you have the time to DIY your presents, even better!
I personally use fabric, Kraft paper, bottles, and twine. Anything that can be repurposed later on and that doesn’t add to clutter is great. I got a huge roll of Kraft paper, as tall as me, and my paper twine I get from Divisoria. You can also check online sellers if you don’t have the time to venture out.
Some ideas we used last year with our Kraft paper are:
You can customize one for bakers, cocktail enthusiasts, foodies, or put together a basket of sustainable products you might want to introduce to your family and friends. And they can always repurpose the baskets later on at home!
Anything from hard to find spices, teas, or even these DIY flavored salts from Country Living.
