How To Wrap Presents, the eco-friendly way!

Sharing some eco-friendly tips and ways on how to wrap presents for Christmas, or anytime really! These tips will help not only save waste but also save money. So grab a cup of coffee, save your newspaper, and read on to learn how to wrap presents properly an eco-friendly way.

Eco-friendly wrapped present with candy canes and dry fruit as decoration

How to wrap presents for Christmas

Getting a gift is the best, isn't it? Almost as good as giving a gift and watching the person's face light up. This is especially true when you gift to children. They are so forward with their emotions and it is so lovely to see the smile spread across their face.

But do you know what isn't lovely, the HUGE garbage bag full of wrapping paper following a birthday party or Christmas morning! I know not everyone cares and this post will not change that but I wanted to share some of the very easy and FREE ways we wrap presents to minimize the amount of trash we get.

Some tips on how to wrap presents properly

1. Save your delivery paper and small boxes

This may not help you today but save the paper that comes in any deliveries you get. Amazon in particular sometimes adds recycled brown paper inside their box instead of the airbags. These work very well as wrapping paper. Just save them to use in the future, a perfect free way to recycle paper.

Present wrapped in recycled paper and twine on a wooden table

Another free idea is to use a newspaper. The comic sections work well for wrapping and you can tailor the page to the person you are gifting to.

Often times I don't have enough of these papers. One cheap way around this is to buy postal wrapping paper. It's made from recycled material and is itself recyclable. It can also be reused or saved as a fire starter (we make a lot of fires at the cottage).

Roll of postal wrapping paper on a carpet surrounded by pine and branches for decorating

Lastly, a creative idea that I just started using is to wrap the gift in a scarf, reusable napkin, or towel. You could include this as part of the gift, and it gives you a unique wrapping idea. I add some pine or dried fruit to add a nice touch! For the recipe for the dried fruit.

present wrapped in a scarf and decorated with dried fruit — Gift wrapped in a scarf

2. Go on a walk and collect some decor

Next time you go on a walk around your neighborhood or to the park with your kiddos, keep an eye out for natural decor. We try and collect pine branches, pinecones, dry sticks or leaves. Just make sure you aren't picking anything off a living tree or trespassing (obviously, but I just wanted to say, lol)

3. Save from previous gifts

Don't be so quick to throw out the wrapping that may have come with something that was gifted to you or your family. Often times you can save the ribbon and sometimes even the paper. Reusing is a great way to reduce your footprint and also save some cash!

Ain't nothing wrong with that!

4. Now, to wrap your present!

OK Now the goods on how to wrap your presents for Christmas, or any other occasion really.

The best part by far! But I love wrapping gifts so I am biased, haha. No seriously don't overthink this. It doesn't have to be super pretty. I have been wrapping presents for a long time. I was always the go-to present wrapper in my family because I loved it so much.

Resuable mug decorated with twine, a coffee card and a bead bracelet surrounded by other presents wrapped in recycled paper

Keep the wrapping simple and then add the things you have collected or find in your home. This year we had some extra candy canes and dried oranges from the garlands we made. I always have twine and we gathered some nice pine branches.

It really is a LOT simpler then it looks. You can tape or tie the decorations to a present with basic wrapping. The extra little decor items will make it look way fancier then you think!

Oh, and in case you need some gift ideas to go inside the wrapping (hehe) check out these unique and eco-friendly gift ideas check out this post:

25 unique and eco-friendly gift ideas for the person who has it all

Eco-friendly wrapped presents decorated with candy canes and dried fruit on a marble table

5. Eliminate the need for a card!

If you are using the recycled brown paper to wrap your gifts then you could opt to write or draw onto the gift. I ask my kiddos to draw pictures right onto the present instead of making or buying cards (which let's be real will get tossed anyway!)

This is another great opportunity to save money but also have fun and get creative with zero-waste!

Dried citrus fruit all piled onto each other on a wooden table

And that's all she wrote! Thank you for stopping in and reading. I hope this post on how to wrap presents properly in an eco-friendly way helpful to you. And if you are interested in more, check out these posts: