Where to Buy Pretty Zero Waste Gift Wrap
Good Tuesday Gift Wrap is printed with green energy and sent in plastic-free packaging. Sold in folded sheets in packs of 5 or 10, these colourful designs are suitable for any time of year.
Cut up old recycled calendars to use as gift tags.
Also read about plastic-free paper tape (and paper ribbon). Also read our post on keeping pets safe at Christmas.
Although FSC-certified paper gift wrap is better, it still involves growing fast-growing plantations of monoculture trees, often with pesticides. These (unlike old-growth trees) don’t provide homes, shelter and food for native wildlife, and don’t absorb carbon dioxide, to help prevent climate change and floods.
Using post-consumer recycled materials instead helps to close the loop, and is also more creative. Eco gift wrap also avoids glitter, which usually can’t be recycled and contains microplastics.
For other brands, avoid sending plantable gift wrap (and cards) to homes with pets, as most wildflowers are unsafe near animal friends.
Cute and Pretty Recycled Gift Wrap
It’s All Eco offers lovely recycled gift wraps, sent in plastic-free packaging. Choose from Flowers and bees or Pink floral.
Also read about plastic-free paper tape. Also read our post on keeping pets safe at Christmas.
Although FSC-certified paper gift wrap is better, it still involves growing fast-growing plantations of monoculture trees, often with pesticides. These (unlike old-growth trees) don’t provide homes, shelter and food for native wildlife, and don’t absorb carbon dioxide, to help prevent climate change and floods.
Using post-consumer recycled materials instead helps to close the loop, and is also more creative. Eco gift wrap also avoids glitter, which usually can’t be recycled and contains microplastics.
Use with recycled paper gift tags.
Eco Gift Wrap (made from grass!)
Grass-paper gift wrap is indeed made from grass fibres, and easily compostable after use. So pretty you can use as place mats or table runners.
Also read about plastic-free paper tape. Read our post on keeping pets safe at Christmas.
Although FSC-certified paper gift wrap is better, it still involves growing fast-growing plantations of monoculture trees, often with pesticides. These (unlike old-growth trees) don’t provide homes, shelter and food for native wildlife, and don’t absorb carbon dioxide, to help prevent climate change and floods.
Using post-consumer recycled materials instead helps to close the loop, and is also more creative. Eco gift wrap also avoids glitter, which usually can’t be recycled and contains microplastics.
Alice Palace (artistic eco gift cards & wrap)
We love Alice Palace! This artist creates gorgeous personalised cards and gift wrap, made with green energy and printed on recycled paper or card.
England is in danger of becoming a boring monotone, and this company offers just the opposite. Quirky, fun and a little bit ‘English eccentric!’ The greetings cards are all blank inside.
Whatever the occasion, Alice Palace has a gift card or wrap for you, usually printed on recycled card. From happy couples to pet parents, you are sure to find something you like to stock up on!
You can even order a personalised tin for your pooches’ dog treats!
For other cards, avoid sending plantable cards to homes with pets, as most wildflowers are unsafe near animal friends. Also read our post on keeping pets safe at Christmas.
Fabrap (Japanese-inspired fabric gift wrap)
Fabric wrap is inspired by the Japanese method of wrapping gifts, using decorative tea towels or fabric scraps. You can use fabric wrap to everything from books to bottles. The giver or recipient can then pop the wrap in a drawer, and use it again the next time a gift is given.
It’s ideal for in-house giving (say family and friends), with no scissors or tape required.
Fabrap offers beautifully illustrated organic cotton gift wraps, packed in recycled paper envelopes, with notecards to keep or give back the wrap, once gifts are opened. Some wraps are reversible, so you can choose from two patterns.
HappyWrap is a company that also produces beautifully designed gift wrap, in organic cotton. Use to wrap bottles to books to jewellery. The brand was inspired by Dick Whittington, who would carry all his belongings in a fabric bag on a stick!
This fabric gift wrap features a beautiful sea turtle print, sure to inspire friends who love our endangered marine creature friends.
The naturally coloured fabrics have lovely weight, so need for lining and your gifts remain nicely hidden. The orders include cotton cord and a recycled card gift tag with cotton twine.
Sent in zero waste packaging with an illustrated guide to get you started, choose the correct size:
- Small is good for wine, gloves, books, DVDs, bracelet or watch boxes, aftershave, clutch bags or iPads.
- Medium is good for shoe boxes, board games, shirts, boxed gadgets and portable radios.
The company also sells recycled paper gift wrap and sustainable Lokta paper (from a bark that sheds naturally each year in Nepal and provides jobs).
Battle Green’s Festive Reusable Gift Wrap
Battle Green Reusable Gift Wrap is in bright red or green, made with organic cotton. Ethically made in India. £1 from each dale is donated to a small non-profit that helps care for abandoned, abused and unwanted domestic/farm animals and sick/injured wildlife.
Fabric wrap is inspired by the Japanese method of wrapping gifts, using decorative tea towels or fabric scraps. You can use fabric wrap to everything from books to bottles. The giver or recipient can then pop the wrap in a drawer, and use it again the next time a gift is given.
It’s ideal for in-house giving (say family and friends), with no scissors or tape required.
The Soul of Gift Wrapping: Creative Techniques
The Soul of Gift Wrapping is a book that combines inventive wrapping designs with inspiring personal essays by sustainable gift wrap artist Megumi Inouye, drawing on the gift-giving traditions of her Japanese heritage.
Keep small parts (like buttons) and glue – even natural versions) away from children and pets (toxic, and can expand in the stomach). Also read about plastic-free paper tape.
Avoid sending plantable gift wrap and cards to homes with pets, as most wildflowers are unsafe near animal friends. Read our post on keeping pets safe at Christmas.
Using repurposed materials (like old maps and sheet music), her approach inspires readers to think intentionally about the presentation of every gift.
Learn how to make tape-free folding techniques, paper and fabric bows, clever message tags and unique approaches for odd-shaped items. And how to wrap a book without tape.
About the Author
Megumi Lorna Inouye was born in Los Angeles, but her culture of thoughtful gift-giving comes from her Japanese parents. She often uses recycled and found materials, giving a second life to things that otherwise might be overlooked or discarded.
She believes that living in the midst of a fast-paced consumer age, there is something to be said about rethinking our relationship with gift exchanges and wrapping.
Here are a couple of her creations (not from the book), both made from recycled paper:
