Search Smart Spending:

Gift wrap for the eco-friendly

Posted Dec 22 2008, 10:20 AM by Donna Freedman
Rating:

Ah, the decorative gift bag -- the preferred wrapping technique for the lazy or the tape-impaired.

But blogger "Daphne" at Urban Frugal has a better idea if you're giving gifts to friends: "Rather than just giving someone a gift bag that they will discard, give them a reusable tote bag or shopping bag."

After all, decent-sized gift bags cost at least a buck and some retail for as much as $5, she noted in a post called "Useful wrapping." Reusable shopping bags can be had for as little as 99 cents.

By wrapping in a reusable bag you're giving two gifts. What a swell friend you are! You're also, as Daphne notes, keeping a bunch of wrapping paper from "(ending) up in the garbage a few minutes later." 

These bags are darned handy, too, for carrying things other than groceries: schoolbooks, picnic lunches, sports gear or your "good" shoes on snowy or stormy days. A friend of ours uses canvas sacks to sort recyclables. If you're picking fruit, or gleaning it, a strong bag with handles is essential. These sturdy sacks are good for storing boxes of Christmas ornaments, too.

Best of all: No tape required! You can just tie it shut with a ribbon. 

Related articles:

DIY: Better ideas for homemade wrapping paper

50 reasons to stop using plastic shopping bags

Gifts for those who don't need 'stuff'
 

Back to Smart Spending Digg this | Email this | Link to this
Comments

 

Reusable bags are only eco-friendly when you use them for more than 50 times. i.e. once a week for a year!

I don't know about you, but I already have too many of them. Some of them are too small, so they end up sitting around. When they are not used, they are more of a threat to the eco-system because they use more materials and energy to produce.

It is good intention of course, so are grandma's ugly sweaters.

adora (Posted 12.22.08 11:12 AM ) Report Abuse

Who throws away a decorative gift bag? Whenever my wife and I get them they get saved a re-used. Those things are not cheap.

moat (Posted 12.22.08 3:31 PM ) Report Abuse

Donna, yet again you show your rudeness.  Not everyone that uses gift bags are lazy or tape-impaired!  Good gracious woman!  Stop!  You are very rude sounding under the ruse of trying to be funny.  Maybe people like to use gift bags because they  physically can't wrap a gift & the bag is easier for them, or maybe they are recycled bags from previous years or bought them at a tag sale for a nickel a piece.  Before you start to judge people, think it through first.  

anonymous (Posted 12.22.08 5:26 PM ) Report Abuse

I'm not tape challenged.  I use the bags because they look pretty and it's easier to hide gifts that way.  It's easy to guess if something is a book or DVD.

We resuse them every year.  We keep giving them back and forth to family members!  so that's better than buying them too and keeps xmas paper waste down.  

and they ARE cheap.  we have Christmas Tree Shops in the Northeast where you can get the bags for as little as 59 cents.

em (Posted 12.22.08 7:05 PM ) Report Abuse

Moat: A relative of mine uses gift bags, and asks for it back so she can re-use it!

I've also heard that they make good lunchbags because they're sturdy.

Em: I found a whole bunch of gift bags at a yard sale for 50 cents total. I'm using them for gifts for my daughter and son-in-law -- and if she doesn't want to re-use them herself, I'll gladly take them back.

Thanks for reading Smart Spending.

Best regards,

Donna Freedman

Donna Freedman (Posted 12.22.08 8:45 PM ) Report Abuse

Ha, ha, Donna, I DO use gift bags because I am tape-impaired!!  But you will be pleased to know that I reuse them, too.  I definitely will try your suggestion of using a reusable tote for wrapping presents this year.

Thank you for your fantastic blogs--they always inspire me to do better!  

Gail (Posted 12.22.08 9:25 PM ) Report Abuse

Anonymous- YOU are the rude one! Are you actually suggesting that an asterisk be used listing every other possible reason for using a gift bag? Take it with a grain of salt! OOPS! Oh, no! Are you on a sodium-restricted diet? Should I not have used that expression? Get off the high horse: I doubt anyone cares that gift bags are used because of impairments, and that suggesting otherwise is "rude." Get a life.

I use gift bags because I like them (Posted 12.22.08 10:38 PM ) Report Abuse

When I checked the recycle bins and Dumpster a few days after Christmas, I saw at least six discarded decorative gift bags. Sigh.

Donna Freedman (Posted 12.28.08 4:31 PM ) Report Abuse

Send a Comment

Comments must be directly related to the blog entry. Comments with offensive language will be deleted. Your e-mail address won't be displayed.

(please, no HTML tags. Web addresses will be hyperlinked):