Zero Waste Wrapping

Unless the festive shopping craziness doesn’t get to you, feeling the urge to start buying decoration and presents for the holidays is something we all go through, at least once! A time for indulgence, joy and smiles, can be easily eclipsed by the stress of finding gifts that our loved ones will hopefully love, right? In the end, the question we might want to ask ourselves, is whether we buy presents with real intentions behind them, or whether we buy them for the sake of gifting something of possibly temporary use to fulfill a holiday-appropriate etiquette.

 The big day comes, then it goes in the blink of eye. What are we left with afterwards? Bundles of plastic, unwanted boxes, a burnt Christmas tree light that we’ll replace by the meter, not the single light bulb, and what’s even a harder pill to swallow…we are left with gifts we might not use much after. For this upcoming holidays, our intention is to gift all the happiness, but with zero waste. From zero-waste wrapping, to actual gift ideas, there is a whole world of possibilities for a Christmas which won’t add to our current carbon footprint.

Originality is something we all want to be known for, even while giving out presents. We get that. Maintaining the ‘I-enjoy-giving-original-presents’ essence, is actually totally doable even when keeping our gifts at a sustainable, eco-friendly level.

Let’s start with zero waste wrapping: a technique called Furoshiki Wrapping that involves using cloth to wrap just about anything. A go-to for any kind of gift. Drop the typical reindeer-printed wrapping paper, for a meaningful, vintage, or recycled piece of fabric that brings a different touch to the moment of wrapping. Here’s a great visual guide for the incredible list of different Japanese Furoshiki wrapping techniques to try: