miniwiz 小智研發

What’s your vision of the holidays? If you’re like most people, you probably picture a pile of beautifully wrapped presents. No matter what your holiday tradition looks like, it’s a safe bet that it involves plenty of painstakingly wrapped gifts, as well as a carefully decorated home.

 

The trouble is that once you’ve unwrapped all those presents, you’re left with a mountain of wrapping paper. And that leads to enormous waste, especially since most of it winds up in landfills and even in the ocean. Americans throw away 25 percent more trash during the holiday period (between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day) than at any other time of year. A lot of that trash comes in the form of wrapping paper.

 

 

PHOTOS: FACEBOOK/NATIONAL ENVIRONMENT AGENCY, YOUTUBE/SARAH TRAN

 

 

Ways to Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle

There are all kinds of creative ways to reduce waste around the holidays. Some people recommend using cloth wrapping paper. Others suggest using unconventional substitutions for wrapping paper, like the funny pages from your Sunday newspaper, or even a colorful old map.

 

But let’s face it: Most of us are still going to use the traditional, lovely wrapping paper that we grew up with. That’s why it’s a great idea to find ways to reuse wrapping paper. So this holiday season, don’t rip that paper off of your gifts — and whatever you do, don’t throw it away. Instead, reuse to reduce waste. Set that paper aside carefully so that you can use it for one of these great crafts.

 

Keep reading for some of the best zero-waste tips for this holiday season.

 

Turn It Into a Book Cover

You can repurpose old wrapping paper by turning it into a colorful book cover. This is a great one if you’re a student and you have textbooks that might need to be returned at some point. You can keep them in mint condition just by wrapping the covers in some of your favorite holiday wrapping paper.
 

Even if you’re done with school, you might have a student in your life who would appreciate a nice textbook cover. The best part of this project? Every single time you look at your textbook, you’ll be reminded of the holiday season — what better way to brighten up finals week?
 

Line Your Shelves With Holiday Cheer

It can be tricky to find shelf liners in pretty prints. All too often, contact paper comes in the same old designs, and it’s hard to make your pantry stand out from the rest.
 

That’s where DIY really makes a difference. Instead of shopping for shelf liner and contact paper, why not make your own using your old wrapping paper? Just save the paper from your holiday gifts, iron it with a warm iron to make it lie flat, and then use thinned-out paste to affix it to your shelves.
 

You can use the same method to make liners for your dresser drawers. The good news is that wrapping paper is a lot easier to work with than contact paper. It won’t stick to itself, and it won’t develop those frustrating air bubbles.
 

Fashion a Pencil Caddy

Do you keep a can of pens and pencils on your desk? If you save your old wrapping paper, you can transform that ordinary-looking can into something cute, unique, and cheerful.

Just take an ordinary tin or aluminum can, wash and dry it carefully, and cut out a piece of wrapping paper that can fit around it. Then glue it on, using any kind of ordinary household glue.
 

You can get creative with this project and mix and match different patterns until you get a combination that you love. This also makes a great, inexpensive holiday or housewarming present. It’s a nice way to add a splash of color to any home office, too.

 

Wrapping Paper Garland DIY for the holiday
 

Make a Garland

This is a great project to chase away those mid-winter blues. When the holidays are over and you’ve taken down all of your holiday decorations, you may find your home looking a little bare. That’s when it can be a lot of fun to make a special paper garland to hang on your walls.
 

Just snip it into pretty shapes and glue those shapes onto a ribbon, or even onto a rustic piece of twine. You can drape that on your walls, across doorways, or anywhere that appeals to you. It’ll bring a badly needed bit of brightness into those January days, and it’ll remind you of the holiday season, even when those days are far away.
 

Use It for Packing Material

What do you do if you try to save wrapping paper, but it just isn’t in great shape? If you have small kids, they probably aren’t opening their presents with the utmost care and delicacy — they’re probably ripping that paper off and leaving shreds all over the place.

Can you still save those shreds and find a use for them? Yes!
 

Gather them up, put them in a bag somewhere, and save them. The next time you have to pack something delicate, you’ll be glad you have all that shredded paper. It’s a lifesaver when you pack up your kitchenware for the moving van or you want to mail a fragile package to a loved one.
 

Use It for … Wrapping Paper

If you’re careful with your wrapping paper, you can use it more than once. Make sure it’s in very good condition — you might want to iron it out to get it really smooth. Then, simply reuse it to wrap your next holiday present.
 

Your loved ones will appreciate the fact that you’re reusing paper. In fact, it’ll give them something to feel good about for the holiday season. Imagine showing up to your next party with an armful of gifts wrapped in reused paper — and now, imagine that some of those gifts are actually DIY presents made from last year’s paper!
 

You might even start a new tradition. Instead of making waste over the holidays, you and your loved ones might just start competing to see who can be the first to achieve a zero-waste home.

 

Miniwiz paper upcycled furniture
 

More Bright Ideas

We firmly believe that everybody can achieve a zero-waste home — without missing out on any of the things that bring us joy. If you’d like to learn more about ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle your way to a greener planet, check with Miniwiz for plenty of bright ideas.

MINIWIZ Medium