Reusable gift wrap

With the holidays coming up it's time to start thinking about creative ways to wrap this year's collection of presents. The way people unwrap says a lot about a person. Some choose the polite way or eco-conscious way and others tear into it, I am one of the latter. However, I may rethink that because the reality is every year Americans waste an unbelievable amount of gift wrap (aka paper) during the holiday season as well as throughout the year.

Taken from an 2004 article from BuisinessWeek:

With $5 billion worth of gift wrap tossed in the trash each year, reusable gift bags may be an idea whose time has come. Wrapsacks ($3 to $8) are hand-dyed cotton bags designed to be recycled: Receive a gift in one, use it to give a gift to someone else. Each comes with a unique ID sewn inside. If all recipients enter the bag's whereabouts at the Web site, you can track its travels.

Let's face it, gift wrapping takes time, it's tedious and very often produces paper cuts and who likes those? Just think of how much easier it would be to throw a gift into a reusable gift bag like one of these organic cotton numbers from Mother Earth Fundraising!

It does cost a bit more money but in the end it helps out the environment and what better present to give to your family and friends. Sorry for the cheesy ending but in all seriousness, it's true.

Of course, you can always get creative and use scarves, scraps of fabric, colorful newspaper and bags from gifts received. I'm sure your friends won't mind the "re-gifting" in this case. A few more companies with great reusable gift wrap products are Gift Wrap Green, Lagniappe, and check out Biota for a very stylish collection of silk gift bag ideas.

Enjoy!