Are you making your lists and checking them twice? Gift-buying and gift-giving season are in full swing! When thinking about giving and asking for gifts, think about things that don’t require wrapping, like classes and experiences. How about a dance or exercise class or music lessons for the kids? Movie or sporting event tickets, museum memberships, or a donation to your favorite charity also make great, no-waste gifts. You can also look for gifts that are fair-trade or locally made.
Low-waste gifting
Try all these tips to make the season bright, but not wasteful!
- When shopping online, check out Amazon.com’s “frustration-free” packaging. Items will arrive with no wires, ties, or hard-to-remove plastic, which means less trash. Also try to order items that ship from nearby cities to reduce pollution and costs from fuel and travel.
- Consider having a “no-wrap” party, where all the guests bring their gifts unwrapped. Bookmarks can be used in place of cards to identify the gift, or bring cards made from recyclable material.
- If you choose to wrap gifts, consider fun, reusable materials instead of wrapping paper. For example, you might use a reusable gift bag or decorated paper shopping bag, Sunday Comics pages, coloring book pages, stenciled brown paper and twine, or cloth napkins and scarves.
- When you do receive new items, always donate the old ones you are replacing if they are still usable, instead of throwing them in the trash.
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