Think Outside the Roll

Are you one who will dive into a present, ripping the wrapping to shreds? Or do you gingerly peel off the cellophane tape trying to preserve as much of the wrapping as possible? According to the Clean Air Council, an additional 5 million tons of waste is generated in the U.S. during the time between Thanksgiving and the end of December. 4 million tons of that is wrapping paper and shopping bags. That's about 800 million pounds of waste generated during only one month of the year. Besides reusing gift bags and ribbons, here are some other ideas to help you be eco-conscious and creative with your gift giving.

• Make part of your gift the wrapping by using a tea towel to wrap a mug or other kitchen items.
• Wrap up gifts with a festive scarf or fabric scraps.
• Use a colorful bandanna for a hard to wrap item or gift cards.
• Re-usable totes are everywhere so grab one at the checkout and make it the gift bag.
• Use newspaper, catalog or magazine pages, even take-out menus as wrapping.
• Cut open a brown paper bag and decorate with paint, crayons, rubber stamps, stickers, or leave plain.

Just look around your office or home and you'll be surprised what you can find to re-use or re-purpose to reduce some of that 800 million tons of waste this month.