Eco-Friendly Wrapping for the Holidays

I come from a family that saved every ribbon and bow from Christmas morning and reused any wrapping paper fragments large enough to use again. I try to reuse, and this year I decided to try to be a little more eco-friendly when doing my holiday gift wrapping.

Here are a few low-waste alternatives:

Paper Gift Bags – You can use these many times and they make wrapping so much easier.

Fabric Wrap – use scraps of old fabric, a scarf you don’t need anymore, or even old shirt and fashion it into a bag that can be used over and over again.

Magazine Pages - for a smaller gift, use some colorful pages of a magazine.

Reusable Produce Bags - I’ve been  giving most people on my list gifts wrapped in Be Mindful Reuseable Produce Bags this year. It's a bag that can be reused all year long!

Gift wrap is big business and since most of it is not recyclable, it ends up in the trash. So if you have’t purchased wrapping paper this year, don’t! Skip the wrapping paper and think of more sustainable gift wrap ideas for the Holidays.   

Join the Plastic Free July Challenge

If you have not yet joined the zero-waste movement, now is a great time to start.  For the entire month of July, people all over the world will take part in Plastic Free July, a global challenge to reduce personal consumption of single-use plastic.

Plastic is taking over our planet, and it is happening breakneck pace.  Almost half of the plastic ever manufactured has been made in the past 15 years. Eight billion pounds of plastic finds its way to the ocean each year.  At our current rate of plastic production, consumption, and disposal, the oceans will contain more plastic then fish by 2050! 

 So, what can we do to stop this plastic consumption? I believe that action, even by a few people can make a difference. I decided to take the Plastic Free July Challenge again this year.  I participated in the Challenge for the past two years, and it has really made me look at how much plastic that I (and my family) use each day.  It may be impossible to get rid of all the plastic in your life.  But if you can eliminate just 10% each day, think of what a difference it will make.

Simple ways to remove plastic from daily life:

·         Bring your travel mug to the coffee shop, if you’re getting a cup to go

·         Carry a reusable water bottle everywhere

·         Use reusable Produce Bags at the grocery store or farmers’ market. Check out our Be Mindful Reusable Produce Bags.

·         Avoid plastic packaging – bring your own containers to the deli counter at the grocery store

·         Create your own home cleaning products using the glass jars you’ve saved after using

·         Create your own reusable travel kits

Plastic characterizes our consumer, throw-away culture. It represents the kind of thinking (and action) that has led to our current environmental crisis.

We’re addicted to convenience, much of which plastic makes possible.  If everyone moderates their consumption, we can move toward sustainability.

Take the plastic free challenge with me this month and send us your ideas about how to use less plastic! 

Plastic Free July - Take the Challenge

At our current rate of plastic production, consumption, and disposal, the oceans will contain more plastic then fish by 2050! 

So, what can we do to stop this plastic consumption? I decided to take the Plastic Free July Challenge. This month, I join tens of thousands of people around the world in an attempt to forgo plastic.

Our throwaway culture makes it difficult to break free of plastic.  I have been following blogger Bea Johnson at Zero Waste Home.  She and her family having been living Zero Waste lifestyle since 2003, and she now travels the world teaching others to do the same. She says, “Zero Waste living is a lifestyle that is rich in experiences rather than things, a life that is based on doing and being rather than having”

So far, I have made a few simple changes in my home. I love Fill Good.Co, a zerowaste refill service for skincare and household products, so when I was in the Bay Area last week, I picked up bamboo toothbrushes for me and the kids, as well as glass jars for our soap and cleaning products.

Simple ways to remove plastic from daily life:

              ·         Bring your travel mug to the coffee shop if you’re getting a cup to go

             ·         Use a reusable water bottle everywhere

             ·         Bring bags with you to any shopping destination

             ·          Bring a glass container for takeout food at restaurants.

·          Bring containers to use at the deli or bulk goods section in the grocery store

·          Create your own home cleaning products using recyclable glass jars

·          Create your own reusable travel kits

·          Put leftovers in glass bowls and cover them with another dish

             ·          Donate or sell plastics you don’t need

Plastic epitomizes our consumer, throw-away culture. It represents the kind of thinking (and action) that has led to our current environmental crisis. We’re addicted to convenience, much of which plastic makes possible. We demand immediate gratification, we want it cheap, and we dispose of it without thought. We consume mindlessly and behave as though we have infinite resources

Take the plastic free challenge with me this month and send us your ideas about how to use less plastic!