Mama Gone Green is a blog dedicated to raising happy children and reducing our impact on the Earth. My name is Taryn and I am the mother of 2 young kids and an environmental studies instructor at a community college in Portland, Oregon. Please join me as I journey through life as a mama, teacher, knitter, photographer, gardener, and environmentalist!

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Reuse that Wrap!


HoHoHo! Don't throw away that gift bag! Save that bow too! My family always save gift bags, bows, ribbon, tissue paper and use them again and again and again. It not only keeps waste out of landfills and saves trees, but it also save you cold hard cash! If you wrap the majority of your family presents in gift bags, you can buy them once (or save them from gifts you receive) and continue to use them year after year.
Or, if you are even more motivated (and this in on my to-do list, but I havent quite gotten there yet) how about sewing up some gift bags out of fabric? You could use material from clothes you were going to give away, old sheets, or even hit up the fabric store a few days after the holidays and get some great deals on holiday fabric. Then you truly can use those gift bags forever. And, what a great bonus to a holiday gift!
I admit, it is pretty cute to see kids tear into a wrapped present to find out what it is, and gift bags may not be quite as exciting.... so maybe wrap a few of the kids presents in a re-purposed and decorated brown paper bag or in a holiday section of newsprint. Or have a roll of wrapping paper around for a few special presents and make sure it gets recycled after they are opened.
Americans increase their landfill waste by about 25% between Thanksgiving and New Years! Try not to contribute to that statistic! Pin It Now!

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