According to Brightly, Americans produce 1.25x more pounds of trash daily during the holidays, compared to other months. We know that sustainable baddies limit our waste all year-round, but it might feel especially important to prioritize sustainability right now. If gift giving is your thing this season, limiting your waste by opting for sustainable gift wrapping is a great way to cut down on single-use waste. Susty baddies around the world have already thought up a million alternatives for wrapping your gifts, so we decided to put them all in one place. Below, you will find our ultimate guide to all things susty gift wrapping. 

A Gift in a Gift!

One of our favorite ways to wrap is by including an additional gift item that can be used for wrapping. Many of our favorite susty brands and designers are selling great accessories that can be easily used to not only be your gift, but to wrap your gift too! 

1. Baggu’s Baby bags are perfect for using as a gift bag, and they can be easily tied at the top for a bow effect. Although seemingly small, you can fit quite a bit of gifting goodness into these reusable bags. We also love their reusable cloths (made of leftover recycled textiles) to tie around a box or make a DIY gift sack. Another hack is to stuff small gifts in baggu tote pouches. Your gift-ee is going to be so excited about their new baggu products that they might even forget to look inside!

2. Silk Scarves from Oima are naturally dyed silk scarves made by hand by Marilyn Sanchez, an artist based in New Jersey. These scarves make for an ideal gift /gift wrap combination, and can be repurposed into wall decor, hair accessories, tied on a bag, or repurposed as gift wrapping for someone else! (And that’s on circularity!) 

3. Lush Knot Wraps are another accessory that make for a great wrap alternative. Based on the Japanese tradition of Furoshiki, these knot wraps are intended to be  tied around small boxes and gifts. Many of the Lush gift sets already come wrapped in these susty alternatives. They are made from recycled plastic or organic cotton and can be reused or turned into accessories too! 

Stock up on materials

We all have a friend who asks if you’re gonna throw away your novelty bagel wrapper after breakfast. In that moment you might be confused, but any sustainable baddie knows that that paper has a whole life ahead of it. We encounter wrapping like material all the time in our day to day. It might take a little bit of creativity, but you can definitely mix and match these materials to make some one-of-a-kind wrapping creations. Consider these ideas: 

4. Fabric Scraps – for using the leftovers from that t-shirt you just cropped!

5. Tissue Paper and Packaging – Are you still hoarding that fancy tissue paper that wrapped your recent skincare splurge? 

6. Leftover Food Wrappers – This might sound kind of risky, but there is always a little leftover fancy wrapping around your double wrapped bodega sammie. As long as you check to make sure it’s food-free, it can make for unique wrapping! 

7. Newspaper and Magazines – Whether you pay for your morning paper or just have a lot of old Vogues lying around, your recycled paper materials make great wrapping or stuffing. 

8. Leftover boxes – We love collecting boxes (even if our roommates and partners hate it). All those packages you get in the mail will definitely come in handy as vessels for this year’s gifts!

Eco Friendly wrapping brands

Maybe you are just not the DIY type, and that’s ok! Fortunately, there are some pretty fantastic susty brands who saw the need for alternatives to wrapping paper and made their own. Check out some of our favorite small businesses and artists who decided to take susty wrapping into their own hands: 

9. Wrappr Japenese-Inspired Reusable Fabric Wraps – Inspired by the culture of Furoshiki gift wrap, this susty alternative is similar to our gift-within-a-gift section. These wraps from Wrappr make for a great sustainable option for gift wrapping, and can be a gift all on their own! 

10. Goldune Compostable Gift Wrapping – This wrapping paper from one of our fav susty shops is a great and easy alternative to traditional wrapping. Their paper is made from recycled material, is biodegradable, and is manufactured in the U.S. at a women-owned paper mill. Also, if you spend over $75 from Goldune before Dec 16th, your order will include their sustainable wrap for free!

11. Rani Ban Reversible Eco Friendly Wrapping Paper – Small business owner and artist, Rani Ban, makes her very own reversible, recycled, and recyclable wrapping paper. Not only is this paper better for the environment, but it is made using her original artwork, making it a unique accessory for your gift-ee too. 

Vintage and Thrifted

12. Thrifted Tins – There are so many fun and unique secondhand tins and boxes at thrift stores, both in person and online. Reusing a gift box that has already been passed down is a very susty option, and you can often find some pretty sweet, unique packages. 

13. Jars – Whether or not you have your own collection of old jars, thrift stores are constantly brimming with leftover jars. Jars are the perfect container for a cute foodie treat, a pair of socks, and any other small gifts that can be tucked safely inside!

DIY & Crafty

Once your wrapping paper is secured, adding a little glitz and glam is easily done with the helpof our favorite sustainable wrapping crafts.

14. DIY Bows From Recycled Paper – all that extra paper from your collaging collection can finally be used for something immediate. Cut and paste strips of whatever paper you have around and create these colorful bows to adorn your already susty gift wrapping work!

15. DIY Gift Tags – you can make your own gift tags with leftover paper or recycled cardboard from your leftover shipping boxes. String them onto your gifts with leftover fabric scraps or hemp string, which is a more sustainable option than plastic ribbons. 

16. Natural Material Decor – spice up your wrapped gifts by adorning them with small winter plant arrangements. We love tying on clipped pine fronds and small strings of cranberries or dried orange slices to addcolor and character to our presents.  

We hope these ideas help you have your most zero-waste holiday season yet. And if it still feels overwhelming, remember that you can always opt for going simple, like leaving gifts in boxes they came in, wrapping them in old reusable bags you don’t use, or in fabric scraps that you still have laying around. Sometimes the best susty option for you is the simplest and most accessible. What matters most is the thought behind our gifting and giving this season!