Green Christmas wrapping

There are three levels of recycling when it comes to Christmas wrapping paper.

At level one you are happy to see your gift's recipient rip the wrapping paper off with gay abandon and then dutifully place it in their paper for recycling' bin (although you'll need to check whether it is actually recyclable).

At level two, you look on approvingly as you see the other person carefully remove the paper from each present, fold it neatly, put it to one side and store it in a drawer to be used for wrapping next year's presents. Really good move, that, because in effect it's DIY recycling, which cuts out the middle man!

Or at level three you really pull out all the stops - you use paper that's already been used for something else, and your friend retains it for use again.

Wow, you'll both end up as saints!

If all those sounds too tiresome and boring to bother with, you can still take the carbon-neutral route still retaining an exciting look and feel to your presents.

Let's start by looking at environmentally friendly manufactured paper - specifically hemp wrapping paper.

It's made from hemp blend paper and printed with 100 per cent vegetable inks. You can also get ribbons and gift cards made of natural and biodegradable materials, so next time you're shopping check out the local shops to see if anyone has cottoned on to this area of the market.

Hemp blend paper combines chlorine-free agricultural resources (10 per cent hemp and flax straw) with 90 per cent recycled waste fibres. The long fibres of hemp and flax add strength to the shorter fibers of recycled post-consumer waste. There's another important element to this process, which is that the paper is whitened without chlorine.

However, if you find it hard to get hold of, the simpler option is to make your own wrapping paper using a variety of sources, depending on the recipient of the gift.

For example, if you're wrapping presents for children you could use the comic pages from the weekend supplements.

If you know the child's favourite cartoon character you can use the relevant page from the comic, so that they are greeted by Dennis The Menace or Desperate Dan as they claw their way into the goodies.

Even adults who had a passion for such illustrious personalities might be happy to receive such quirkily wrapped pressies.

Another option for adults - and this is quite a classy idea - is to make fabric gift bags.

They make beautiful, personal and unique gift wraps for all occassions, but Christmas is as good a time as any to set the precedent. Even better, they're re-usable and made of recycled materials.

To make your own gift bags, start by gathering all the scrap material you can lay your hands on, for example in charity shops or by raiding the discontinued' or cut-offs' bin in the local fabric shops.

The most garish fabrics which are unsuitable for dresses or curtains wind up in the discontinued bins, and they are just right for this purpose.

The gift bags will look richer and last longer if they are lined, so collect plain fabric for the insides of the bag. Old cotton bedsheet material works well for this.

Calendars, wallpaper and more

Rather than throw out last year's calendar, if it's a large one you can cut out the pictures and use them for gift wrapping. The pictures will probably be bright and interesting, the coated paper is glossy and finished looking and the weight of the paper makes the wrapping extra-deluxe quality.

Children's art

One of the best sources for wrapping paper is children's art. Children are prolific artists, and they love to see their work acknowledged. Use your children's artwork - ask them first, though - to wrap gifts for the holidays. Relatives will love the personal touch and will probably keep - and treasure - the paper.

Wallpaper book samples

You can also ask for discontinued' books of wallpaper samples from DIY shops. The pages are large enough to provide great wrapping paper for small and medium sized gifts.

Maps

Old maps are another highly unusual source of wrapping paper. Whether you use out-of-date road maps, marine charts, OS maps or aeronautical maps, all can work well and can be matched' with the gift.

For example an old OS map could be used to wrap a gift of outdoor gear, or an old marine chart for a boat-related gift.

The personal touch

You can also decorate the paper after the gift is wrapped, but you may want to use two layers of paper so the colors you apply - felt tip or paint - don't bleed through to the gift.

Finish off the gift package with a ribbon or bow, and the result is a unique, personal gift - and the paper is still recyclable.

The finishing touch

Natural finishing touches will give your gifts and your wrapping a great appearance.

A walk through the forest, a nearby park or even your back garden will provide plenty of natural materials to use in trimming your gift package.

Pine cones, fir or cedar branch tips, dried leaves and other small natural pieces can be tied together with twist-ties and secured to the package. Avoid using berries, as they can easily fall off and be potentially toxic to small children and pets.

For a more festive look, the pine cones can be brushed lightly with glue and dusted with glitter. A bright red ribbon can also be used as a tie at the top of the pine cones.

How to make a gift bag

1) Cut two pieces of fabric and two pieces of the lining material, all to the same size. Any size, any shape rectangle. A variety of sizes is useful, and square or close to square' rectangles are the most versatile shapes.

2) Put each fabric piece on top of each lining piece, fold over the top edges and sew. Just the top edges. Now you've hemmed the opening edge of the bag.

3) Stack both sets of fabric with the lining (inside) faces to the outside. The decorative fabric pieces will be facing each other on the inside of the sandwich'. Be sure the hemmed edges are both on top. Sew the three un-hemmed edges with a simple running stitch, 5mm in from the edge.

4) Turn inside out. Set a generous length of ribbon about 5cm down from the top, and tack it to the bag with a few stitches in the middle of the ribbon length.

That's all there is to it! The bags are ready to use, or ready to give as gifts themselves.

Can it be recycled?

How should I recycle it?

Check that the local authority can accept wrapping paper. Information will be available on their website or ask for waste management when phoning.

Some local authorities ask for wrapping paper to be recycled in cardboard recycling banks only.

In some cases wrapping paper is not collected at all, since it might not be accepted by some recycled paper mills. There are a number of reasons for this.

The materials that go into making some wrapping paper result in it not always being accepted for recycling:

• Wrapping paper is often dyed, laminated and/or contains non-paper additives such as gold and silver coloured shapes, glitter, plastics etc which cannot be recycled.

• Some wrapping paper is very thin and contains few good quality fibres for recycling.

• A lot of wrapping paper has sticky tape attached to it which makes it very difficult to recycle.

By Graham Harris