Greener Gift Giving

Bag It Up

For as long as I can remember all my Christmas gifts have come in gift bags. Not only does it save time wrapping presents but also saves paper. This is especially true because we re-use the same gift bags and even tissue paper every year. When you are gifting to someone outside of your immediate family, consider getting them a reusable shopping bag to wrap the item in.

Make your own or send E-Cards

The most environmentally friendly greeting is to send an E-card but I prefer a hard copy. To reduce the environmental cost of printer ink and amount of paper used, I like to make simple handmade cards that are less than half the size of a standard card and fit in a small, standard envelope. In my experience, cards can be made relatively quickly with minimal effort but are still really special to the recipient. I recommend getting simple supplies like stickers or stamps to make the front of the card and taking a few moments to write some heartfelt thoughts.