Wrappily

It’s that time of year again where Americans get to spend over $12 billion on gift wrap. Over the years I’ve wrapped presents with brown paper grocery bags, reused gift bags, and made my own craft wrapping paper by turning it into a kids activity. I even invested in cute holiday stamps and lint rollers too. But now that my kids are old enough to choose what projects they want to work on, it’s rarely ones that I’ve come up with. And I’m just not feeling very crafty these days. So I’ve found myself going with what is easiest and that’s buying wrapping paper from the store. There’s something so gratifying about a neatly wrapped present, adorned with cute ribbons and other little adornments. Of course, that’s not how my packages look but I still feel somewhat satisfied after I wrap each present. It’s so much more enjoyable than putting them in a gift bag. Like I’ve accomplished something. That’s my happy place.

Chic Gift Wrap With an Eco-Friendly Twist

– Wrappily

Wrappily

Enter Wrappily. They sell wrapping paper, twine, gift tags, and gift sets. Their wrapping paper is printing on 100% recyclable newsprint. Here is why that might be important, according to their website:

• Wrapping paper and shopping bags alone account for about 4 million tons of trash annually in the U.S. alone.
• Over the holidays, about 227,000 miles worth of wrapping paper get thrown away—enough to circle the world 9 times!
• Unacceptable. Most wrapping paper cannot be recycled because it’s dyed, laminated, or contains non-paper additives.
• A piece of newsprint can be recycled up to 7 times! Its printing requires less energy and uses gentler, soy-based inks.
• Under the right conditions, newsprint will completely decompose in approximately six weeks. In fact it makes great seed pot starts for the garden!

Basically they’ve taken newspaper, but instead of printing stories on them they’re using these old presses to print cool patterns. Newsprint is more environmentally friendly than other virgin pulp paper, and often comprised of recycled paper. Although in full disclosure they don’t outright say exactly what their newsprint is made from and what percentage of recycled, pulp, and saw dust it contains.

Cost

You will not be buying Wrappily paper if you’re looking for a cheap or even comparable alternative to your current wrapping paper. Or if you have 30 presents to wrap. This is high end, dare I suggest hipster, wrapping paper. I got 3 sheets about 2’x3′ for $10. They come in sheets, not rolls. These are meant to be special, unless you have a large expendable budget in which case go big! I love this paper and I kind of want to wrap my own presents with it since I know I’ll appreciate it. Just kidding. Not really tho.

Alternatives

While you can’t recycle most wrapping paper, I read about some really fun things you can do with your wrapping paper once you’ve unopened your presents and are still feeling crafty, in this article “19 Clever Ways To Use Leftover Wrapping Paper” on Buzz Feed. Some of them included making confetti, making cute little envelopes, line book shelves, and make star medallions (okay that one made me actually laugh aloud because it’s beyond my crafting skills).

That’s a Wrap

I recently used this paper to wrap a baby present for someone I don’t know very well, mostly so I could review it for this blog post. This might be the first time my wrapping paper excitement has rivaled that of the cute baby clothes they’re hiding. As I mentioned above, I’m not great with the accessories so don’t judge. But the paper has a really nice feel to it. And when you unfold it, it really is just like a newspaper, but without the residue that comes off on your fingers. It’s also soft, like well-worn paper. I love this paper and will use it very selectively for special gifts, but I’m not sure I can afford it for my bigger gift giving needs.