Community Corner

Gift Wrapping Tips to Reduce Holiday Waste

Check out these tips on Livingston County's website to reduce holiday waste this season.

Gift wrapping during the holidays can be a pain, especially when you think of all the waste created Christmas morning when all your hard work is torn open and tossed aside.

The Livingston County website offers tips on ways to reduce holiday waste while gift wrappping. Check them out below:

  • Save pretty calendar or magazine pictures to re-use as wrapping paper for gifts.
  • Use wallpaper scraps as wrapping paper
  • Have kids decorate grocery bag paper with markers to wrap gifts or use old homework papers. Grandparents will appreciate this..
  • Use Sunday Comics for wrapping paper. 
  • Wrap a holiday gift in a pretty new kitchen or hand towel ... the towel is part of the "gift" and is reusable! 
  • Re-use Pringle, Torengo and other chip tube style containers as holiday gift boxes. Wash, rinse and dry to ensure they are clean. Then glue or tape calendar or magazine pictures; brown paper (grocery bags); or wrapping paper onto them. 
  • If you have one of those can openers that do not leave jagged edges (i.e. the kind from Pampered Chef) reuse your cans as packages for gifts. Wash, rinse and dry to ensure they are clean. Then glue or tape calendar pictures, brown paper (grocery bags), or wrapping paper onto them. Draw a circle just smaller than the lid on the same paper and glue or tape it to the top. Top can be taped on or simple held in place with holiday ribbon. This is especially strong packaging for your fragile gifts. 
  • Re-use paper towel or toilet paper tubes for your very small gifts. Simply cover the tube with a magazine picture, bright tissue, or wrapping paper and fold down the sides 1" at each end. 
  • Trim your gifts with fragrant snips from evergreens, pine cones, non-poisonous berries and/or dried flowers.
  • Tie children's packages with bright colored shoelaces ... which can then be used to lace their sneakers. 
  • Reuse packing peanuts or bubble wrap. Use starch peanuts but include a note letting people know these can be washed away not recycled with styrofoam.

Check out more waste reduction tips at http://co.livingston.mi.us/solidwaste/holidayWaste.htm.

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