Unwrapped: A Guide to Zero Waste Gift Wrapping

article by Tian Hewetson, Nonstop Solutions

First stop: what I could find around my flat.

Christmas is fast approaching!

‘Tis the season for family, food, fun and also… overconsumption.

To alleviate some of my guilt about all the unnecessary waste the holidays bring, I’ve challenged myself to give zero waste gifts. I’m opting to only give homemade gifts or things I’m certain the other person will use (what this actually means is I’m on a budget and planning on doing a lot of baking).  I’ve also challenged myself to not use any wrapping paper this year to ensure my gifts are truly waste free. 

Wrapping paper may seem inconspicuous, after all, it's just paper, right? 

Most gift wrap is lined in plastic, or is actually one hundred percent plastic so it can’t be recycled and after its short lifespan it's cast aside to take up space in landfills. Kiwi’s use roughly 1600 tonnes of gift wrap every christmas, think about how thin gift wrap is, how much must we be using for the weight to add up that much? To give you a visual example, that’s 10,000 trees, for something only used for a few minutes! 

My first step in finding wrapping paper alternatives was to search my flat. After all, what could be more sustainable than just using what you have? I had a few ideas in mind; namely old magazines, cookie tins and any gift bags I already have. I often keep the gift bags I’m given because it feels wasteful to throw them out, so I thought that would be an easy place to start (just be careful not to re-gift them to the person who gave them to you!). 

I cut off the uneven parts of the bag (from the bottom) and just used it like normal wrapping paper

My search proved successful and I found a christmas themed cookie tin (perfect for gifting baking to people in something a little nicer than an icecream container), old wilderness and salient magazines and a few random gift bags. I found some newspapers too, which I thought it could be useful for bigger gifts. I also came across a paper grocery bag I thought I could probably use. 

A tea towel I brought from the opshop and scrap fabric I had at my flat

Turning the grocery bag into wrapping paper was even easier than I had anticipated. I just pulled the bag apart at the seams, being careful not to rip the bag apart. Once it lay completely flat I cut off the extra parts from the bottom of the bag and cut the handles off. After that, it looked the same as any plain brown wrapping paper. You could also just use the grocery bag as a gift bag but it felt a little too much like a grocery bag I’d last minute gotten from the supermarket so I did this instead. 

In keeping with my zero waste goal, when using the magazines, newspaper and old paper bags to wrap gifts I avoided tape. Instead I used ribbons and yarn I found at home to tie them closed, which worked great. Honestly, I think they looked nicer than using tape. If you don’t have any ribbon at home, I bought some from an op shop a few months ago for less than I gold coin and they seem to have a limitless supply! You could also decorate your gift wrap with things, like dried flowers or pine leaves, or draw your own christmas designs on to the brown paper. 

After the success of my wrapping paper alternatives I was feeling ambitious and decided to try something a little more out of my comfort zone. If you google waste free wrapping paper, one of the first things that comes up is always furoshiki, a japanese technique where you use fabric to wrap gifts. For this, I went to the op shop and found tea towels that doubled as an extra gift. For gifts that were too big for a tea towel I used scrap fabric already but alternatively you could buy fabric from an op shop, they always have so much.

My attempt at furoshiki, it worked so much better than I expected!

If you’re using fabric and feel extra committed you could sew a hem around the outside so it doesn’t fray, I skipped that step though. This is the tutorial I used - it's quite straight forward. Place the gift in the centre of the fabric and tuck two parallel sides around the gift. Take the other two sides and double knot them together then rearrange the fabric so it sits nicely. It took me a few goes to get it but once you have the technique it's easy. There are more intricate ways you can fold the fabric too but I just stuck with this. 

If you’re feeling crafty these holidays, make something to wrap the gift in! Last year for my birthday a friend wrapped my gift in handmade beeswax wraps.  I love getting handmade gifts and I  still use the beeswax wraps so it felt like I got two gifts in one! A few years ago I made tote bags for my friends and gave them their gifts (they both still use the bags now). Making drawstring bags could also be an easy solution too. These do take a little extra effort to make but are even more thoughtful and you know they won’t be throwing anything away. 

Hopefully I’ve given you some inspiration for ways that you can avoid gift wrap this year. I was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to find alternatives without even needing to buy anything! 

“Ask Trash Queen What Is the Most Sustainable Wrapping Paper” https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/homed/sustainable-living/300751921/ask-trash-queen-what-is-the-most-sustainable-wrapping-paper

“Top Tips On How to Cut Down Christmas Waste” https://www.1news.co.nz/2021/12/21/top-tips-on-how-to-cut-down-christmas-waste/