Suggestions for a waste-free Christmas ... decorations, gift ideas, etc.
Posted by Saskia on Dec 19, 2007 · Member since Jan 2007 · 1976 posts
What are you doing to make your Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah(earlier this month), or other holiday celebrations eco-friendly?
I'm trying to come up with gift ideas that don't create more waste ... stuff like tickets to events, home-baked cookies in reusable tins.
Any other suggestions on gifts or wrapping them?
hmm... i am trying to give my friends and family eco-friendly stuff!
i have already ordered two diva cups for friends... i was going to make reusable grocery bags for my parents, but I realized they use theirs for trash, anyway, so I am going to let them get away with that. BUUT... to my dismay, my family DOESN'T recycle anymore (you guys have no idea how much it is killing me to be home), so i think i might get them curbside recycling for the year.
other than that, i am still thinking.
yeah, and save your wrapping paper... especially bags. why would people throw those away, man?
Old magazines also make for great wrapping paper, especially the glossy mags which look a bit nicer than newspaper.
Old magazines also make for great wrapping paper, especially the glossy mags which look a bit nicer than newspaper.
i am so lucky to have a frugal family. they don't care if i wrap there stuff in newspaper. it gives it character ;)
I just wrapped a bunch of presents in Grocery store paper bags (my husband often forgets to bring the earth bags). Put the printed side in, and I think they look fancy! Maybe even better if I tied some hemp or yarn around them, but I haven't gone this far.
I'm sure my SIL will roll her eyes when they open the box I mailed with all the grocery store presents in it, but oh well!
i think those look really nice, too, L2A. maybe it's just me, but just plain brown packages?! exciting!
If you must use wrapping paper, don't wrap things for pets or babies, since the element of surprise is not important.
I am trying to use all recycled/reused gift bags this year, but most of my gifts are donations (as opposed to actual stuff) anyway. I also like to knit bags/purses/containers, and present the gift in that. For instance, a knit/felted wine bag or a purse could hold practically anything.
If you must use wrapping paper, don't wrap things for pets or babies, since the element of surprise is not important.
I am trying to use all recycled/reused gift bags this year, but most of my gifts are donations (as opposed to actual stuff) anyway. I also like to knit bags/purses/containers, and present the gift in that. For instance, a knit/felted wine bag or a purse could hold practically anything.
I love homemade gifts. One year a friend sent me a knit hat. Another year she sent me a jar of jam she made.
I just wish I had half the talent she has to make these gifts. So I'm sticking with cookies. :)
I made fudge, cookies, and york-a-like patties and I'm packaging them in tins I got through freecycles! and if I end up using bags, I have a bunch left over from last year, and I bought a few gift bags from a thrift store (15 cents each!) - so I have those too.
I know it's frugal, but it's so good for the environment. the only things, really, that I had to buy were some ingredients for the vegan treats :)
I love being homey and making my gifts. it's the best way to go - and means a lot more than something random from the mall. they're made with love.
yay for taking care of the environment!
vegan goodies are always good! once, i gave a friend, for her bd, a 'membership' to the cookie of the month club. i made her cookies every month. it was awesome.
thats a great idea! i was trying to think of something cooking oriented for my roommates and i think that would be perfect. for some of my other friends i'm making them some polar fleece knee high socks to wear inside their rainboots. which reminds me - i need to make one pair right now to give to my friend tonight before we both leave town. ahh too busy!
i wish i had a pattern. it would make it alot easier. i just made a pair figuring it out with a pattern i made myself out of tissue paper. i made a pair before for myself that turned out a little funky shaped but served their purpose. i saw a pair on ebay though and by looking at the seam lines i figured out how they made them. from there i eyeballed how i imagine their pattern would look.
i made them like this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/BRAND-NEW-MULTI-COLOR-FLEECE-SOCKS-CUSTOM-MADE_W0QQitemZ320197477355QQihZ011QQcategoryZ11526QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
but imagine them knee high. theres a bottom, a top, and a back. you just gotta know how big your friends feet are..
well...here's something I've done for a long time, never realizing just how cool it was to do....
I've never been in absolute, lower-rung poverty before, but I've been kind of close (not a pity party, just setting up the story), so I've always had this sort of "pack-rat" affinity with hoarding seemingly use-less items for who-knows-what reasons. I'll save scraps of paper, tiny stubs of pencils, old drumheads, cool tea bag paper wrappings or nicely-designed food labels. Now, it's fascinating enough for me to collect this stuff, but what's amazing is when it turns into ART or a remodeled gift for someone!
It can be as simple as a pretty scrap of ribbon that you find on the sidewalk (okay, I do sometimes choose to disinfect these objects) that you could, say...attach to a pretty Winter-een-mas-time handmade card...like by punching two holes in the front cover and tying the ribbon in a bow through the holes...
Last year, my sister (yeah, my sister of all people!) learned a couple of neat ways to recycle old t-shirts by cutting them into simple dress patterns for toddler-sized kids...You could probably make "boy-clothes" out of old clothes, too...Heck, possibilities abound for old clothes, even for barely sew-savvy hand-stitchers like myself. Seriously, go to a thrift store, see if you can find a patter or color that someone you know would like, then figure out how you could transform the garment into the sort of thing they'd wear. (I've had this huge blouse or moomoo-into-skirt transformation in my head for a while...)
also, along that idea of re-using gift bags (we always did back home! :) ), I was also thinking of ways to transform old newspapers, old scribbled-on sketchbook paper, or some other paper I'd otherwise recycle into gift bags. You can make simple fold-over pouch/envelope things, or more elaborate, folded structures, like grocery bags.
I also have an odd collection of pretty rocks and shells that I do plan on making into nice jewelry...there's still a hemp cord necklace in the works for the bf, once I get more cord and some how drill a hole/attach a ring or somesuch to the rock(s) I want to use...
So, uhm. yeah. Just a few recycled gift ideas from me. hope ya like!
I bought a bunch of tea towels from the dollar store to use instead of wrapping paper. I think they're better than wrapping or tissue paper, and we'll be able to either reuse them or use them for there intended purpose... but I have a nasty feeling they were made in China using slave labour with lead or arsenic dyes... :-X
I made a couple of girlfriends, okay my kids' girlfriends (they're 1-1/4 to 5 years old) purses. I'll post a pic when I'm done...
K^2
Last year, my sister (yeah, my sister of all people!) learned a couple of neat ways to recycle old t-shirts by cutting them into simple dress patterns for toddler-sized kids...You could probably make "boy-clothes" out of old clothes, too...Heck, possibilities abound for old clothes, even for barely sew-savvy hand-stitchers like myself. Seriously, go to a thrift store, see if you can find a patter or color that someone you know would like, then figure out how you could transform the garment into the sort of thing they'd wear. (I've had this huge blouse or moomoo-into-skirt transformation in my head for a while...)
Thanks for those great ideas. A friend told me she recycles old t-shirts by cutting off the sleeves and sewing the sides together and a fabric handle to make a bag to use for groceries, fashion, purse, etc.
Another friend mentioned she wraps her gifts in scarves and ties them so the gift receiver can use the scarf too.
I'm giving most my friends "cupons" my friend who has a 4 year old is getting a night of free kid-watching, a friend who is away at school (but close enough for me to drive) is getting a cupon for me to make her my chili (which she is in love with) and drive it to her to visit as well. things like that. they won't create waste and they're things which people can genuinely appreciate.
But, for the folks I AM giving gifts to, I wrap in newspaper/magazines all the way, most people just think it looks neat ;) I also tried to buy things I felt good buying, dad got a tote made from recycled burlap bags made by people with disabilities. And my brother is getting a necklack made with beads I bought from a little independent bead store near where I work. nothing from wal*mart or places like that. I think just giving your business to legit places helps a lot during the holidays.
I just found the green guide to the holidays:
http://www.greendaily.com/2007/11/26/green-holiday-guide/
I also wrap my presents in newspaper and then take it when they are done unwrapping to recycle.
For the last four years LB and I have gotten a real tree either potted or balled & burlap'ed. I decorate this with Tulle that I bought 8 years ago and poinsettia silk flower picks that are almost as old. Then in January we dig a hole and plant the tree at his parent's house! The decorations all get boxed up for next year's tree.
I also use craft paper or brown bags and wrap gifts. I then get out some markers, ink and stamps and decorate the boxes. I also like to use fabric ribbons to tie up the boxes that people can then use again!
Tins that my Nana sends to me full of nuts gets recycled into tins of cookies sent out by me the next year.
vegan goodies are always good! once, i gave a friend, for her bd, a 'membership' to the cookie of the month club. i made her cookies every month. it was awesome.
I love this idea. It's too late for me to use this year, but I'm going to keep it in the back of my mind (hopefully not buried too deep) for next year. My repertoire is limited to 6 different types of cookies right now so I've just got to try out a few more recipes (tsk, tsk, what a hardship).
for the t-shirt crew... there are a lot of books at the bookstore/library on cutting and resewing shirts into new clothes! lots look really fun, esp. if you/your friends like more feminine fashions (aka they are too girlie for my tastes more often than not).
craftser.com also has a section for "reconstructions" i think they call it, where people take things and make new clothes out of them. there was a cool blazer made out of a old sweatshirt and another woman made a cute dress out of old tux shirts.
i think i might do a homemade xmas next year. i don't gift for many (mostly mom, sis, and a couple friends) and most people get baked goodies. i'll have to think about what i want to make!
Thank you for sharing those, Baybpuppy. I've been reading more about creative ways to reconstrict t-shirts. Just discovered this website too -- www.barbrahorowitz.com, with info on how to host a "tee party." Click on "tee party" for some pix of stylish ways she transformed t-shirts.
Pages