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Eco-Friendly Wrap Gifts In Recyclables

Tribune photo by KELVIN MA

Biodegradable gift wrap looks so good you might not be able to tell which gift came from the family environmentalist.

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By SUSAN HEMMINGWAY The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 18, 2007

TAMPA - The options used to be pretty limited for gift givers who preferred to wrap their presents in recyclable paper.

There were the Sunday comics, of course, and other newspaper sections. Or you could use brown paper grocery sacks that made everything look as if it had been wrapped in a homemade schoolbook cover.

Now, eco-friendly wraps rival any conventional gold foil, or presents can be tucked into reusable cloth gift bags. Wrapping paper is being made from hemp fiber, banana fronds, strands of cotton and reclaimed paper such as junk mail. And it all looks so good, you might not even be able to tell which gift is from the family environmentalist.

Biodegradable wrap can be found in several traditional looks, including a design with white poinsettias on a holiday-red background from Paporganics. The online retailer sells wrapping paper made with a blend of hemp fiber, flax straw and recycled paper products. The company also offers ribbon created from cotton strands and a water-based adhesive.

"I wanted to show that you can have some really eco-friendly gift wrap, but it doesn't have to look like a newspaper," says Camille Campbell, owner of Paporganics.

Campbell decided there must be others like herself who wanted something more stylish than the comics or brown paper. She located mills that could make paper from plant fibers and opened Paporganics in 2003.

The company sells 24-inch-by-36-inch sheets of gift wrap for $4.99 at www.paporganics.com. Its cotton-based ribbon also is priced at $4.99 for a 10-yard roll. (It's currently sold out.)

Another source for alternative gift wrap is the Green Field Paper Co., an online retailer based in California. Its recycled gift paper comes in artsy patterns, including one that features antlered dachshunds and snow-capped red fire hydrants (OK, you have to see it). Two oversized sheets cost $7.95. Go to www.greenfield
paper.com to browse or place an order.

Green Field Paper also sells a "plantable" wrap that can go into the garden instead of the trash. The paper is embedded with wildflower seeds and is available in plain white. A package of five 13-by-19-inch sheets is priced at $19.95.

All thumbs at gift wrapping? The ease and speed of tucking presents into gift bags is still an option. A ready-made "starter set" of five gift bags made from holiday-themed fabric is available at reusablebags.com for $29.95. Although paper gift bags can be reused, too, the fabric bags won't look as wrinkled and worn after being exchanged a few times.

"[Fabric] gift bags are a no-brainer once you have awareness of how much paper is wasted on gift wrap," says Victor Cobb, founder of Chicago-based reusablebags.com.

If even holiday gift bags seem like too much work (gee, you must be stressed!), here's another idea: VivaTerra, a catalog company that sells home accessories, will ship gifts already wrapped in a swath of Dupioni silk, or you can buy the wrap separately. It can then be used as a scarf or as elegant table decor. A 27-inch square is sold as a set of three — one red, one gold and one green — for $36. A 54-inch square is sold individually for $28; it also is available in red, gold or green. Go to www.vivaterra.com.

Of course, ideas abound for environmentally friendly gift wraps made at home. Kathryn Gassaway of Tampa makes her own fabric gift bags from remnants picked up on sale. She once gave her brother a present wrapped in her husband's old flannel shirt and decorates packages with found items, such as acorns or herbs from her garden.

Using wrapping paper manufactured from trees isn't the right choice for Gassaway. Her handmade soap company, Plantopia, donates money from sales of a three-bar gift set to American Forest, a nonprofit organization that plants trees. She sells her soap and bath products at local open-air markets, such as the Saturday Morning Market in downtown St. Petersburg, and through her Web site, www.plantopiagifts.com.

Gassaway's family members also save every bow and paper gift bag that comes their way. They might reuse them for years, she says.

"We're always saying, 'Haven't I seen that gift bag before?'"

Reporter Susan Hemmingway can be reached at (813) 259-7951 or shemmingway@tampatrib.com.

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