Guest Author - Jan Zeiger

According to Business Week, more than five million dollars worth of gift wrap is tossed in the trash each year. I decided that this would be the year I’d stop using disposable gift wrap and was happy to find many alternatives online. I thought I’d take a moment to share a few of my favorites.

Wrapsacks

These colorful gift bags are especially neat because you can follow their journey by going to the website and entering the code found on your bag. You can see where your bag has been in a matter of seconds! Wrapsacks are probably the best known brand of all the reusable bags and have been featured in magazines such as Time, Women’s Day, and Mother Earth News.

Wrapping Bags

This website offers bags that are similar to Wrapsacks. The cotton sacks are handmade and include a tracking number. Wrapping Bags is based in Alberta, Canada. The wood tags that accompany the bags can be reused as well!

Bag and Forth

Bag and Forth is run by a mother/daughter team with 10% of the company’s profits going to charity. In my opinion, these bags are some of the prettiest I’ve seen. I especially like the “play ball” pattern as well as the other bags designed for children.

Lucky Crow Gift Bags

Lucky Crow is a Seattle-based company run by a work-at-home mom. I ordered a large holiday collection of these this year and felt that the bags were attractive and well-made. However, as I visit the site this evening, I’m finding that a few changes have been made since I ordered, leaving less options for customers. I’ll check back in a week or two and will update this article if necessary.

Other Alternatives to Gift Wrap

Earth Easy recommends other ways of avoiding traditional wrapping paper and gift bags. Pages from the comics section can be used to wrap gifts as well as colorful pics from old calendars. If you’re crafty, you may want to make your own gift bags out of fabric from the thrift store or even old bed linens. Biodegradable hemp wrapping paper is another option worth considering.

As you can see, there are alternatives to disposable gift wrap available for eco-conscious consumers. Check out “Making Earth Friendly Gift Wrap” by Bella Online's Living Simply editor for more great ideas and information. I’ve also included a link to Simply Green Giving by Danny Seo, a new book on eco-friendly gift giving.