What are you doing to help the environment with your waste Christmas wrapping paper?

Question

A friend of mine is giving his presents in plastic bags to avoid wrapping them. His girlfriend is outraged but he is saying he is saving the enivornment. What does anyone else think, or what are you doign to help the environment this year?

Answer 1

What a cheap w@nk! Is he a Scotsman? Paper comes from trees grown on farms most of the time now in the first place. Second if he weren't such a cheap git he might could find wrapping paper made from recycled, and almost any paper can recycled.
I also use the reusable gift bag idea, and the Jewish idea of cloth is fantastic. Thanks to the one who mentioned it.
As far as you plastic baggie friend, what a piteous wastrel! Sides, what are plastic bags made of?
In spite of the cheap one in environmentalist guise, please spread this message round the world:
A Merrily joyous, barking mad, wickedly happy Christmas to everyone who celebrates!
Charles "That Cheeky Lad"

Answer 2

My family has long honored the tradition of reusing the paper and bows. We also cut up our christmas cards to make name tags on next years gifts. The boxes themselves and the filler I always save and reuse, as I sell on Ebay. I also personally send more Email cards than paper cards. The plastic bag idea isn't so bad, if you actually take a minute to "wrap" the item in the bag and don't just hand someone the gift the way you received it from the store. In our house we save plastic bags for dogwalking and I use them as filler in my Ebay boxes as well.

Answer 3

kind of good idea.. although plastic carrier bags probably aren't the best as the other person is just stuck with yet another carrier bag to shove in the cupboard under the kitchen sink that falls out everytime you want to get out the dustpan and brush...

er...anyways maybe wrapping them in newspaper is a better idea.

I like the sentiment though of saving christmas wrapping.. ashamed to say I hadn't even thought about wrapping paper.. I had thought about christmas cards though.. and that is why I have reduced the amount that I send this year and have stuck to email cards :) :)

Answer 4

why use plastic bags? are they not meant to be more harmful to the environment then paper? hence why they brought in a bag levy in ireland.... i will be recycling the wrapping paper and packaging from present i recieve, thankfully there is a recycling collection every two weeks in the area i live and that will be the wednesday after christmas. recycling is the only way to rid yourself of all the paper and packaging over christmas..

Answer 5

i only use wrapping paper on my son's presents, all of it will go for recycling afterwards. all the presents i've bought for other people go into little xmas gift bags that seem to get passed around members of my friends and family until the bag more or less drop to bits ! some of the bags we use must be about 5 years old now ! as long as u are careful with them, they can easily be reused several times.

Answer 6

I converted to Judaism.

Years ago I made gift bags out of fabric to wrap things in. The idea was that they be reused and passed around the family and that I wouldn't have to keep making new ones each year. But my mom and sister insisted on using them for any other thing so it didn't work. It was a good idea, maybe your family will take to it.

Answer 7

Sorry to answer with a question but how are plastic bags helping the environment. Surely no wrapping at all would be best.
Or wrap them up with paper that you have just taken of one of your presents.

Answer 8

I will put all the wrapping paper in the orange recycling bags.

Answer 9

Using absorbant wrapping paper which then doubles up as bathroom tissue for the following day. I like to do my bit.

Answer 10

I help by simply not buying any presents. Any who do, should keep and reuse not just the wrapping but the presents [tat] next year.