The holiday season is easily one of the most wasteful times of year. In the U.S., the annual trash from gift wrap and shopping bags totals over 4 million tons, according to Eartheasy.com. If everyone wrapped just three gifts in reused paper or fabric gift bags, it would save enough paper to cover 45,000 hockey rinks.
This year, you can take one small, fun step toward less waste by revamping your annual gift-swapping parties. Instead of putting a dollar limit on the gifts, put a ban on buying anything. A DIY mandate will add a level of charm and intimacy to the party, reduce the waste associated with the holiday and help to declutter your own home.
Whether it’s crafting, baking or repurposing, this would be a chance to take stock of what you have in-house that, while just taking up space there, could make a nice gift.
Get crafty
If you’re a crafty person already, this should be a no-brainer. In fact, it’s probably already your plan. Knit a hat and scarf. Make a wreath out of old Christmas tree ornaments. Paint a picture. Make a decorative shadow box. Even if you are a crafting novice, there are plenty of gifts you can make that are just as classy as what you could find in a store.
Baking a big deal
No one’s going to turn away something baked with love, and decorating a homemade treat for the holiday is as easy as pie. So pick out your favorite cookie, brownie, pie or truffle recipe and once you’ve made your treat, dress it up. Cover it with newspaper (maybe the Insider?) and a bow on top, or grab a few small round ornaments, tie them together with some ribbon and tape them to the top. Better yet, if you find a nice container or dish that would make a nice gift on its own, make that part of the package.
Turn to Mason
No time or inclination to bake? Grab a Mason jar and throw in all of the ingredients for some sweet cookies, or perhaps some peppermint hot chocolate (crush up some candy canes and throw them in with the cocoa), tie a ribbon around the lid and put a bow on top. With all of that time you saved, you could do a little more to decorate the jar if you like: dip the bottom in gold paint or spackle some white paint around it to look like frost.
Kitchen scrapbooking
Okay, there was baking, then making someone else bake, and now we take it a step further and say, “Hey, do it yourself!” Take a handful of your favorite recipes and write them out on index cards or nice cardstock, then decorate them and bind them as a homemade cookbook for your friends. Did you add your best Italian dish? Then think about sprucing up your gently used garlic press and attaching it to the book for a little extra something. (I mean, come on, you have two garlic presses anyway, and when’s the last time you used either?)
Everything has a repurpose
Make a plan to do a deep clean/reorganization around this time of year, and you’ll be surprised to find quite a few things in your home that would make excellent gifts. Perhaps there’s a fancy serving bowl and ladle someone gave you years ago that you never used; maybe a seasonal set of coffee mugs you swore you would switch out for the holidays but never did; or a couple of framed prints you planned to redecorate with but never got around to. A review of your “stuff” may turn up some items that would make great gifts with a little TLC. There are a million ways to repurpose household items that will be hip and classy, and everyone loves to own something with a little backstory. “Oh, these? These were actually old picture frames that my friend repurposed into TV trays!”
N.H. DES
