Some of our colleagues at Mecklenburg County have challenged residents to have a “no waste” holiday season (sounds pretty thrifty to us). What does that mean? Here’s what they had to say:
Each year between Thanksgiving and the new year, Americans generate an extra one million tons of waste per week! That’s not only a lot of trash, but also a lot of money and time spent in frantic shopping, entertaining and general holiday chaos.
To help reduce waste and increase your enjoyment of the holidays, Mecklenburg County has put together some holiday waste-saving tips – including great ideas for hassle-free gifts, decorations you can make, and general guidelines on how to reduce, reuse and recycle this holiday season.
First up are some creative gift wrapping ideas! With a little out-of-the-box thinking, you can use household items you already have to wrap gifts.
- handkerchiefs or bandanas
- old posters or mpas
- pages from a child’s coloring book
- last year’s wrapping paper (you can press it to remove wrinkles!)
- a present in a present (like a hat wrapped in a scarf, or cookies in a tin)
- a plain box or grocery bag decorated with glitter
- home-sewn cloth bags
- fabric or wallpaper scraps
- Photos from magazines and catalogs
- A cake pan, basket or wooden box
- Wrapping paper made from recycled paper
What do you have around the house that you could use to wrap gifts? We would love to add to this list! Be sure to check out some ideas we shared last season as well!
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