You don’t have to sacrifice cuteness for eco friendly when it comes to wrapping gifts. In fact, most of these eco friendly wrapping ideas are even cuter than a roll of conventional store bought paper and a sticky bow.

By: Lisa Fennessy

But all cuteness aside, most wrapping paper is not recycleable and so it ends up in our landfills. Earth911 estimates that approximately 4.6 million lbs. of wrapping paper is produced in the U.S. each year, and that about 2.3 million pounds ends its life in landfills.

Why? Not all wrapping paper is paper. Some is plastic-based. As a rule of thumb, the majority of wrapping paper is not recyclable including anything shiny or laminated, anything with metal, glitter or texture, bows, ribbons and holiday cards.

A couple exceptions are: recycled wrapping paper which can be recycled again. And also pure paper. Recycle Now says a good way to test to see if your wrapping paper is recyclable is to is to crush it into a ball. If it stays bunched up, it’s more than likely recyclable.

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25 sustainable gift wrapping ideas

But let’s move onto the solution. These 25 eco friendly gift wrapping ideas come with the benefit of not creating any additional waste for our planet. AND they may even save you a bit of money too. And who doesn’t want that?!

Old newspaper makes the best wrapping paper. I love the this black and white motif with a pop of red like these from The Ethical Unicorn.

Go crazy with kitchen twine. The more the merrier via Smart Furniture.

Use festive stamps to jazz up brown paper like A Piece of Rainbow.

Just one more way I plan to use my dehydrator this season thanks to Bri Heiligenthal.

Super sweet via Clean and Scentsible.

Repurpose old maps. I personally have so many of these from my days of freelancing. Maybe *heart* their town or city or state. Via Country Living.

Cut seed paper into festive shapes – the gift that keeps on giving!

Furoshiki wrapping via The Glitter Guide.

So many cute ways to style burlap. And I’m not being sarcastic!

Cute printed burlap via PermaCrafters.

I love the idea of a painted bow via Curbly.

#BestGiftInside #Favorite #413 #HoHoHo #It’sWine…

Add some pizzaz to brown paper with nontoxic paints and a single brush like these from Almost Makes Perfect.

Personalize it with a typographic element like Man Made DIY.

The perfect way to repurpose old sewing patterns like Sadie Seasongoods.

Biodegradable, handmade, unbleached paper like this white one via From Britain with Love

Reusable organic cotton wrapping like this one from Wearth London – photo via From Britain With Love

Upcycling old books to make bows and tags via Organized Mom.

Cute reusable produce bags like these ones by Flip + Tumble are so versatile and make great sacks for odd shaped items.

I love the idea of wrapping with wreaths and so does My Scandinavian Home.

Recyclable paper doilies are a precious touch via Style at Home.

Repurpose a vintage silk scarf or thrift one from a local second hand shop like these via Inhabitat.

Repurpose a holiday card they sent you in years past to up the sentimental factor like this one via Style at Home. This is fail proof. I mean, who doesn’t want to see a pic of their own kids!?

Add your own sketch to double the gift giving like this one from Fat Mum Slim.

Adorn brown paper and twine with fresh herbs like these via Nice Party.

What eco friendly and sustainable gift wrapping are you trying this season?