Recycle your Wrapping Paper

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The other day, as I was running to the store to get some new wrapping paper (because a certain 4 year old and 6 year old in my house would totally know something was fishy if "you know who" wrapped their presents in the same paper that their daddy in I wrapped their presents in) I wondered, can wrapping paper be recycled? I mean, I would guess that it could, but can we just toss it in the blue bin for pick up?

Here in Salt Lake City, the answer is YES. So, please be sure to gather your wrapping paper this year and make sure it gets into the recycle bin. If you don't live in SLC, just give your local recycling department a call and ask. Simple as that. That could be the end of this blog, but I also wanted to touch a no-no's with wrapping paper and some alternatives.

No-no's

When I was younger, my family always had a nice fire going on Christmas morning, and once the gifts had been opened, we would ball up the paper and toss it into the fireplace. I've just learned that this is not advised as the inks used to create the lovely print can be toxic and released into the air when burned. Seems like a no brainer, as most of us would know this from camp fire etiquette, but sometimes things don't translate from one situation to another.

Alternatives

I was fortunate enough this year to acquire a whole box full of old National Geographic maps from someone on Freecycle, and so have been using them for wrapping paper. A cool map of the world with a nice Christmas bow looks very nice in my opinion. If I would have planned better, I could have saved some paper from last year for the kid's presents and then spared myself the trip to the store to get paper other than maps. I also use the nicer wide materials ribbons on my packages so that I can collect them and reuse them next year. Other things you can do are....

• Use decorative paper bags instead of boxes and wrapping paper (reuse the bags).
• Wrap your packages in paper grocery sacks and tie with colorful string or hemp (very earthy looking).
• Wrap your packages in news print.
  
• If you can unwrap packages gingerly, save that paper for next year as well.
• Put your gifts in reusable bags (like all the grocery sacs that are all the rage now).
• Give gifts that don't need to be wrapped, like edibles or gift cards... or even hugs.
  

Whatever you do, just think about it..... think about all the wrapping paper that ends up crumpled on the floor in your house after the holidays, then multiply that by the number of houses in your neighborhood, then in your town, then in your state..... you get the point. Do your part by making the small changes in your life.

Happy and creatively wrapped holidays to you all!