Christmas can create a ridiculous amount of waste, and gift wrapping is a big part of it.
But being a little more eco-friendly with your Christmas presents doesn’t have to mean going out and buying lots of expensive “sustainable” wrapping products. In fact, some of the best alternatives are things you probably already have at home.
I’ve been reusing gift bags, ribbon and other bits and pieces for years, and there are lots of simple ways to make your Christmas wrapping a little kinder to the environment – and often cheaper too.
Here are some of my favourite eco-friendly Christmas gift wrapping ideas.
Use Fabric Instead of Wrapping Paper
One of my favourite alternatives to traditional wrapping paper is to use fabric. You can reuse it year after year, and there are lots of ways to do it without spending much money.
Christmas Tea Towels
Christmas tea towels make excellent gift wrap for simple shaped presents, such as tins of biscuits, and it’s essentially like giving two presents in one!
Rather than buying tea towels specifically for wrapping, I tend to look out for festive ones in the January sales and put them away with the Christmas decorations ready for the following year.
You could also use a tea towel you’ve already got rather than buying something new.
Silk Scarves
Silk scarves are particularly useful for wrapping slightly more awkward shapes because they have a little more give than paper.
Charity shops can be a great place to find inexpensive scarves. Look for festive reds, greens and blues, or just choose something pretty that can be reused throughout the year.
Use Christmas Bedding or Other Fabric
Don’t limit yourself to things specifically sold as gift wrap.
If you have some old Christmas bedding, fabric remnants or even clothes that are no longer suitable for wearing, consider whether they could be turned into reusable gift wrap.
I’ve actually got a green tartan dress that I couldn’t donate because it has some bleach stains on it. Rather than throwing it away, I’m going to cut it into pieces and hem the edges so I can use the fabric either as reusable gift wrap or as a liner for gift baskets.
It’s a good example of how being more sustainable doesn’t necessarily mean buying something new sometimes you just need to look at an old item differently.
Ask For Wrapping Materials Back
If you’ve wrapped Christmas presents in fabric, scarves, reusable gift bags or other materials that can be used again, don’t be afraid to ask the recipient if they’d mind giving them back if they’re not going to reuse them.
You could simply say, “If you’re not going to use the scarf again, would you mind giving it back to me? I’m trying to reuse my Christmas wrapping materials.”
There’s no need to be embarrassed about asking; it means the material gets another use rather than ending up in the bin or at the back of a cupboard.
My family are quite used to me doing this!
My brother is a teacher and received 20+ gifts from his lovely and generous students this year. I asked if I could have the gift bags once he’d finished with them.
Only a few were teacher-specific (which I used for my daughter’s teachers, as he finished school a week before my kids did), while the rest were a mix of colours and designs, with many being perfect for Christmas.
It means I now have a stash of gift bags ready to reuse, rather than them being thrown away or left sitting in the back of a cupboard, which is 100% what would have happened if I’d left them with him!
Reuse What You Already Have
Before buying anything new for Christmas wrapping, have a look around the house. You might be surprised by how much you already have that can be reused.
Save Ribbon Throughout the Year
I have a bit of a habit of keeping nice ribbon whenever I come across it!
Lots of things come with ribbon attached, so keep an eye out when you’re buying gifts or receiving parcels. Beauty boxes, gift sets and even things such as towel bales can come with lovely ribbon that would otherwise be thrown away.
Put it all in a bag or box and you’ll soon have a collection ready to use at Christmas.
There’s no need to buy a new roll of ribbon every year when you can reuse the bits you’ve already got.
Also save the ribbon from this years Christmas gifts to use next year.
Reuse Christmas Gift Bags
Does anyone else always seem to have a mountain of gift bags left after Christmas?
Mine go away with the Christmas decorations and come back out again the following year, ready to be filled with presents.
If someone has written their name on the tag, simply snip it off and replace it with a homemade gift tag made from an old Christmas card.
A good quality gift bag can be used for years, so there’s no reason for it to be a single-use item.
I also like to use Christmas bags for life if I’m gifting a lot of things or have gifts that are heavy. They tend to be much stronger and last longer too.
Turn Old Christmas Cards Into Gift Tags
Don’t throw away last year’s Christmas cards just yet.
Cut out the pictures from the front of old cards and use them to make gift tags for this year’s presents. It’s a simple way of getting another use out of something that would otherwise be recycled or thrown away.
It’s also a lovely little Christmas activity to do with children. I used to love cutting up old Christmas cards with my Mum in the run-up to Christmas.
Old cards are also great to keep in a craft box for children to use over the Christmas holidays.
Upcycle Boxes From Online Shopping
If you’ve ordered lots of Christmas presents online, don’t automatically put all those boxes and packaging straight into the recycling.
Keep some of the useful packaging to reuse.
You could:
- Keep packing materials ready for sending gifts or parcels yourself.
- Use larger boxes to make your own Christmas hampers instead of buying baskets.
- Cover plain cardboard boxes with brown paper or fabric.
- Decorate plain boxes with homemade gift tags, ribbon or natural decorations.
It can be particularly useful for children’s presents or awkward-shaped gifts that are difficult to wrap traditionally.
Check Your Christmas Shopping Bags
Before you put your Christmas shopping bags in the recycling, take a closer look at them. Some retailers have designed their festive paper bags to double up as wrapping paper.
Primark is probably the best-known example. Its festive brown paper bags have featured red stripes, cutting lines and even the words “This bag makes great wrapping paper” printed across the top for the last few years, you can see an example below.
The bags are designed to be cut open and used to wrap presents, giving them a second use before they’re recycled.
Other high-street retailers, including FatFace have experimented with the same idea too, so it’s worth checking your festive shopping bags before throwing them away.
Make Simple Wrapping Look Special
Being more eco-friendly doesn’t mean your presents have to look boring.
Use Plain Brown Paper
Plain brown paper is one of the easiest alternatives to heavily decorated Christmas wrapping paper.
It’s inexpensive, easy to find and can be decorated in lots of different ways. Try using stamps, drawing on it with pens or getting the children to paint simple Christmas designs.
You could even use paper you’ve already got rather than buying specifically branded Christmas wrapping paper.
Just make sure the paper you use is actually recyclable, some brown-looking wrapping papers contain plastic or other materials that make them unsuitable for recycling.
Add Natural Decorations
Instead of buying plastic or foil bows, try decorating presents with things from nature.
Pinecones, sprigs of holly, cinnamon sticks and dried orange slices can all make lovely additions to a simple wrapped present.
Dried orange slices are particularly easy to make yourself. You can dry them in the oven and then save them to use for Christmas decorations year after year.
You could also tie them on with a piece of ribbon you’ve saved from another gift.
Use Twine, Recycled Ribbon or Paper Tape
Traditional sticky tape can make wrapping paper harder to recycle, so consider alternatives where practical.
Twine is a simple option and can be reused, while paper tape can be a better choice than plastic-based tape.
I also like using up all those odd lengths of ribbon I’ve saved throughout the year rather than buying a new roll every Christmas.
Avoid Glitter
If you’re trying to make your Christmas wrapping more environmentally friendly, glitter is one thing to avoid.
Glitter is made from tiny pieces of plastic and is notoriously difficult to remove once it gets into the environment. It can also make wrapping paper and Christmas cards unsuitable for recycling.
Look out for glitter-free Christmas cards and wrapping paper, particularly if you plan to recycle them afterwards.
As example, M&S completely removed glitter from their ranges back in 2020, so if you want to shop glitter free, it’s the place to go.
Don’t Forget to Recycle Your Wrapping Properly
Of course, reducing waste is better than simply recycling it, but there will still be some Christmas wrapping that needs to go in the recycling bin.
Before you put wrapping paper in your recycling, remove sticky tape and check that it doesn’t contain glitter, foil or other non-recyclable decorations.
One simple test is the scrunch test.
Scrunch the paper into a ball. If it stays scrunched, it’s generally paper-based and more likely to be recyclable. If it unfolds again, it may contain foil or plastic and shouldn’t go in your paper recycling.
Always check your local council’s recycling rules too, as these can vary.
A Little Creativity Can Make Christmas Wrapping Much More Sustainable
You don’t need to replace everything you currently use at Christmas with expensive eco-friendly alternatives.
Some of the most sustainable options are simply the things you already own.
Save ribbon when you receive it, keep good-quality gift bags, turn old Christmas cards into gift tags and look at old clothes, bedding and fabric in a different way before throwing them away.
And if you do need to buy something, look for things that can be reused year after year rather than something designed to be thrown away after one Christmas.
You might even find that once you start looking for things you can reuse, Christmas wrapping becomes a lot more creative, and a lot less expensive too!