Christmas Wrapping - Eco Guide

It can be really tricky deciphering the most eco-friendly methods of gift wrapping. We've rounded up some guidance below, but we'd also note that it is great to use up all the bits and bobs you have in your house already, before going to buy some exciting new sustainable options!

Fabric wrapping paper

Using fabric or cloth wrapping is brilliant for reusing time and time again. The Japanese wrapping cloth furoshiki has become an extremely popular way to wrap presents, with some really stunning results. View a guide to furoshiki here, and head to your local fabric store (or raid your cupboard for old material) to get started.

Image credits: Amma Therapie

Newspaper

Wrapping in newspaper is a very chic way to wrap your presents, and it really does look surprisingly cool. Even if you don't subscribe to a weekly newspaper, it might be that someone you know does- who usually recycles it all! Give it a second life before it ends up in the recycling bin and use it for your present wrapping.

Brown paper

Brown paper is a fairly good solution for wrapping presents, and probably the best if you're needing to buy paper. You can decorate it with stamps, drawings, or natural products (we've had a go using offcuts from trees below). All brown parcel paper is recyclable, and because it doesn't have a plasticy cover, it's likely to hold in place with just ribbon. And it looks great!

Recycled paper

If you are going to buy new paper to wrap your presents with, make sure it's fully recyclable (and ideally not wrapped in plastic in the shop). This is a real must if you're buying paper this year- though the above options are definitely better!

Tape and ribbon

When it comes to tape and ribbon, there are some helpful tips to be aware of. Firstly, with tape, it really is a case of less is more. There's some great folding techniques you can use (like this listed here) to avoid tape altogether. If you need some, try to just use a little bit where it's absolutely necessary. 

On ribbon natural fabrics (which you can reuse) are far preferable to plastic, shiny ribbons. Save up your odds and ends and you can use them to decorate presents beautifully. 

We hope you're feeling as inspired as we were to get creative with your wrapping this year after viewing all of these. Happy holidays!