Santa’s Little Helper: Green gift-wrapping and cards

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

If you feel guilty about the mountain of glittery wrapping paper and holiday cards that goes straight into the trash after Christmas, there are a number of creative and easy do-it-yourself options that are greener.

Try looking around the house for material that could be used instead of gift wrap, such as extra fabric, old maps, fancy paper bags and glossy magazine ads.

‘The message we’re trying to get out this year is save money on the wrap and make that yourself so you can spend money wisely on the gift,’ said Paul McRandle, deputy editor of National Geographic’s the Green Guide.

Other ideas:

• Wrap your present with another present. If you bought your sister a scarf, why not use it to wrap the CD you also got her?
• Wrapping with newspaper? Make it more personal and relevant by matching the gift to the section. For example, you could wrap a cookbook with the food section, or a children’s game with the comics.
• If you can’t bear to give up wrapping paper, use it to cover a shoebox and place your present inside. Like a gift bag, your decorated shoebox can be used again and again.

Others say the bare-bones approach is gaining acceptace. ‘The buzzwords here are don’t wrap the package,’ said Richard Giss, a partner at accounting firm Deloitte & Touche’s consumer business division in Los Angeles. ‘Leave it in the box, and if you want, decorate the box.’

Not feeling particularly artistic? Many stores sell wrapping and holiday cards made from 100% recycled paper. Green Field Paper Co., based in San Diego, produces handmade cards from recycled paper, including cards made from hemp and junk mail. One of the company’s most popular holiday items is its handmade ‘Grow-A-Note’ greeting cards, which are embedded with wildflower seeds. Once you’re done enjoying your card, you can rip it up and plant it in the ground. A box of four cards sells for about $15 and can be found at specialty retailers around Los Angeles.

‘The beauty of that is, especially toward the holidays, you’re giving a gift as well,’ co-owner Shari Smith said. But ‘when you do plant it, make sure there’s no information you need on that card.’

And although they aren’t as personal as handwritten notes, e-cards don’t use paper — recycled or not — and are usually free.

-- Andrea Chang