Some of you may think I’m absolutely out of it, but I actually love wrapping gifts for the holidays! I mean, honestly, by the time I’ve finished the wrapping, I’m pretty much over it, but I do get very excited about getting all of the gifts I’ve bought out, and wrapping up each gift so nicely. If you’ve been following along for a while, you may have seen my blog post from last year Holiday Gift Wrapping: How To, where I shared tons of tips on how to make your gifts look extra special.

Well, this year, I think it’s safe to say due to the pandemic, a lot of us have had our eco-friendly missions set back a bit. It’s disheartening to see how many masks and rubber gloves are discarded on the ground in grocery store parking lots, when it’s as simple as throwing them in the garbage, or better yet, wearing a reusable mask and washing your hands instead. So, in an effort to continue making a difference for the better, I want to share with all of you how to make your gift wrapping more eco-friendly this year!

So let’s start off by talking about some things that we find everywhere for gift wrapping when the holidays hit, that we often don’t really even give a second thought when we add them to our cart, or our online shopping cart this year.

Wrapping Paper

Yes, wrapping paper! You might think “well, it’s paper, so it should be recyclable, right?”, well that isn’t always the case. Any wrapping papers that have a shiny feature to it (i.e.: snowflake wrapping paper where the snowflakes “sparkle”), are made with plastic, making them non-recyclable. Instead, try using a wrapping paper that is matte, as it’s made completely from paper or Brown Craft Paper.

Sparkles & Glitter

Ugh, the one that hurts me the most. As someone who absolutely loves sparkles & glitter, it breaks my heart that they’re so awful for the environment. Doesn’t matter if it’s on a piece of decor, wrapping paper, ribbon, whatever — it has an absolutely terrible effect on the environment as well as any animals that could ingest it, especially in the water ways. The sparkle problem is so bad, I’m fairly certain that I heard that the Government of Canada was considering a ban on them*. There’s really only one way to avoid this one, and it’s to just not buy wrapping items that have glitter on them.

* Please don’t hold me to this, I’m not 100% sure about this!

Plastic Tape

I bet this isn’t one that crossed your mind, is it? It honestly didn’t really even cross mine until recently as well. When this is stuck to the paper, guess what? It can’t be recycled. I’m by no means an expert in the recycling industry, but if a glass jar can’t be recycled because there’s food residue in it, I have to assume this happens with paper products too. Instead of regular plastic tape, try using Brown Paper Tape.