Beautiful, trendy, and good for the environment
As holiday celebrations approach, Canadians are busy selecting the perfect gifts to give to their loved ones. A favourite holiday pastime for many is listening to Christmas music and wrapping presents at home, or opting for the bright gift-wrapping stations that pop up in shopping centres by mid-November.
But did you know that traditional gift wrapping can be extremely wasteful? According to Zero Waste Canada, a Vancouver-based advocacy group, Canadians will send the equivalent of 100,000 elephants worth of wrapping paper to the dump in just one year. Canadians purchase 2.6 billion Christmas cards every year, the majority of which will find their way to the dump in the new year. And if all that wasn’t enough, six million rolls of tape are used at Christmas each year in Canada alone.
Gift bags, tape, and ribbon cannot be recycled. We all love the bright colours and that bit of extra glitter on holiday wrapping paper, but unfortunately this extra bit of shine comes at a price we can no longer frivolously spend.
Fortunately, there are so many ways to beautifully wrap those carefully selected gifts by using recycled and compostable materials. My personal favourite is using recyclable brown paper, which can be purchased at most craft stores and dollar stores and is perfect for gift wrapping. For smaller gifts (or perhaps some homemade treats) it is a great idea to use recyclable brown lunch bags!
To secure your eco-friendly wrapping, use paper tape to seal it and twine or hemp to tie your gift bag and secure embellishments. When I think of embellishments, I think of using real plants. You will be surprised by how many beautiful sprigs and twigs you may find by simply going on a short walk!
You can also make personalized gift tags by writing on recycled paper or cardstock. Or, even better yet, make some cinnamon ornaments! Simple, sustainable, and beautifully scented!
Directions for cinnamon ornaments:
- Combine ½ cup cinnamon and ½ cup apple sauce until well blended and the dough forms a ball without being too sticky.
- Sprinkle your clean working surface with extra cinnamon and use a rolling pin to roll out your dough to ¼ inch thickness.
- Use cookie cutters to cut desired shapes and use a skewer to poke a hole in each ornament.
- Place ornaments on baking pan covered with parchment paper and bake at 200 degrees Fahrenheit for about 2 to 3 hours (or until ornaments are rock hard).
- Once cooled, loop twine or hemp through the ornament and use it as the finishing touch on your eco-friendly wrapping.
Photos by Sara Naim