Gift Giving Tips

Here's some tips to reduce waste during gift-giving season

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Instead of a thing that may be used once or twice and then tossed, consider these ideas:

Tickets to an event, like a concert, sporting event, or movie
Gift certificates for spa treatments, massages, dinners, or maybe even health club memberships 0 even car washes would be welcome, especially in the winter
Sign them up for classes they might be interested in taking
Making charitable donations in their honor

Avoid using wrapping paper with foil or glitter that has to be thrown away instead of recycled.
Reuse wrapping paper, tissue paper, gift bags, etc. from previous years.
Use baskets, jars, cookie tins, and so on that can be used over and over again
Or, trying something unique, use old fabric for some non-traditional and reusable wrapping techniques

Try Making Your Own Gift Wrap

Use comics, old maps, old calendar photos, or magazines
Decorate newsprint, scrap paper or leftover tissue paper with rubber stamps, paint or potato-stamps
Design your own wrapping paper using brown paper bags and crayons - especially if you have small children decorating the wrapping paper for the grandparents. This will be a big hit.
Use old gift wrap and other materials to make tags, cards and envelopes

Buying gifts locally and those made from local merchants cuts down on the carbon emissions from shipping and keeps money in the local economy

And here are some gift ideas as well: