Once you’ve bought these sustainable gifts for your friends and family, it’s time to wrap them. Before you reach for that expensive, shiny wrapping paper, it’s important to know about its extremely negative effects on the planet.

Did you know that Americans spend $12.7 billion on gift wrap each year? Or that in Canada 540,000 tonnes of gift wrap is thrown into landfills every year? Not to mention the amount of gift wrap being consumed by all the other countries. At this rate, our beloved planet cannot keep up.

Now that you know the negative impact gift wrap has on the planet, it’s time to change your habits to help the environment (& save yourself some money!). 

To help you make the swap, we’ve shared five tips to wrap your gifts more sustainably. 

Tote Bags

Nowadays, tote bags are trendy. A lot of brands provide one when you purchase something from them for free or a small fee. Wrapping your presents in one of these creates two gifts in one. Plus, your friend or family member will love being able to reuse the bag for their daily activities. 

Newspaper or Recycled Paper

During the year you accumulate a huge amount of paper from your favorite magazines, envelopes, advertising pamphlets, and paper bags. The holidays provide the perfect time to give them a new life. You can let your creativity flourish to create the most beautiful gift wrap from leftover paper. 

Gift Wrap from Nature

Nature is our best wrapping supplier yet. You can create original gift wrapping with leaves, branches, pine cones and flowers. During the year, collect different natural products and let them dry out. Then you can use these dried beauties to decorate your recycled wrapping paper. 

Boxes 

What’s simpler than just leaving the present in its own box? Jewelry, watches, cosmetics, shoes, and chocolate are already packaged in boxes the majority of the time. Use this to your advantage and avoid wrapping them again. If you want to keep the surprise, hide the brand names and logos with a little decoration you made yourself from pine leaves or dried flowers. 

Fabric Wrap

Like the tote bag, fabric wrap allows you to give two presents at once while being eco-friendly. To do this, buy a nice fabric bag or sew one by yourself. You can also wrap your gift in a scarf, bandana or sarong. 

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After being inspired by our sustainable gifts ideas, you can now wrap your eco-friendly presents in a sustainable way too. Your wallet, and the planet will thank you!