All That Holiday Wrapping! (don’t rush to recycle)
All That Holiday Wrapping! (don’t rush to recycle)
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When all the gifts have been opened in a flurry of excitement, one can find oneself surrounded by a sea of crumpled wrapping paper, ribbons, boxes, packaging materials, and a question: what to do with all that mess?!
Some of what you will be able to do with it comes down to how well you prepare, in other words, having a few things ready at the moment of unboxing can make cleanup, reuse, and recycling a breeze. What will you need? scissors, box opener or cutter, trash receptacle, dedicated spot/paper bag for recyclable materials, and a dedicated spot/bag for reusable materials.
Boxes
Intact gift boxes can be collapsed and reused, but not if they are ripped, so being prepared with a box cutter can help save boxes for reuse. (Have it on the ready for when a kid panics and starts ripping when they can’t get a box opened.) If you couldn’t prevent ripping of boxes in all the excitement, those boxes can be recycled or composted with plastic tape removed. Packing boxes can be reused, recycled or composted. Flatten to recycle. Rip into manageable pieces to compost.
Packaging materials
We can end up with a myriad of packaging materials on Christmas morning, most of which can be reused if you can get them in the right hands. Many people run ebay or etsy stores and love getting used packaging materials (bubble wrap, packing peanuts) because it saves them money. Offer these up on your local Buy Nothing Group or PostB4Pitching group. Some shipping stores like UPS or FedEx will take them; call first.
If you can’t find reuse options, plastic film can be recycled in participating grocery bag collection programs. Recycling for polystyrene is harder to find and harder to do. Polystyrene is made up of styrene and benzene, both known carcinogens, so encouraging businesses to move away from foam use (especially with food) is prudent. But once you have foam packaging, what do you do with it? In North Carolina, molded foam block can be dropped off at the Dart Manufacturing Facility in Randleman in Randolph County. Plastic molded packaging (like that which many children’s toys or adult gadgets come in) is not recyclable, even with that number and the chasing arrows.
Ribbons and bows
Bows can also be collected and reused for crafting or gift wrap. Nicer ribbons and bows can be reused indefinitely. Plastic bows deemed unusable are landfill trash. Cloth ribbon that is at the end of its usable life may be suitable for textile recycling.
Tissue paper
can be reused, but if it is unusable, it can be composted as long as it is just tissue (no glitter). Tissue paper is typically not suitable for recycling, and tissue paper with glitter is landfill trash.
Cloth bag and Furoshiki style gift wrapping. The tag on the right is made from an old non-recyclable Christmas card.
Gift bags
While gift bags can be reused several times, they are typically not suitable for recycling because of glossy coatings or embellishments. If you do have a gift bag that is just paper, remove the rope handles before recycling.
Giftwrap
Your municipality may accept it, but don’t rush to recycle! Wrapping paper creates issues for paper mills, and it is not just the tape and foil. Most wrapping paper isn’t just paper. Paper with shiny embellishments is not suitable for recycling. Glitter is simply plastic and a no-go. And what gives that glossy paper its shine is typically a thin plastic (poly) coating that cannot be separated in the recycling process. Even cheap paper that appears to be just paper is often too thin with fibers that are too short to be useful to be used in the recycling process. So unless you know that your wrapping paper is %100 paper, bin it.
In other words, when in doubt, throw it out!
All these steps are only great personal actions until you reach someone else, so let others be in on the process. Without shaming, let others take part in the sorting, removal of tape and consciousness that goes into caring for the materials that wrapped our gifts. Help them to understand why certain papers are recyclable while others aren’t, and that there are other beautiful, more sustainable options such as fabric gift bags, furoshiki wrapping, and kraft paper; maybe they will make different buying choices next time.
Take it a step further by #Requesting your favorite stores stock 100% paper wrapping that is recycled and recyclable. Encourage local stores to stock paper tape, twine and unpackaged kraft paper for wrapping. Let them know about Furoshiki wraps which are fabric wraps that are fastened by tying and can be reused over and over again. Reusable cloth gift bags are another easy option. Even further, contact wrapping paper manufacturers to make those requests!
Brown paper packages tied up with string. Paper tape make these wrappings recyclable things!
This year, I wrapped all my gifts using kraft paper, twine, paper tape and cuttings from Rosemary, Holly or our Christmas tree. It’s so beautiful under our tree!
Together we can celebrate the holidays and move toward zero waste!
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