Grasshopper New Media Presents...

Over the years I’ve done many different things to make my gift wrapping friendlier to the planet: re-using gift bags, wrapping in newspaper, wrapping in my kids’ art work, and not wrapping at all. I’ve seen re-usable gift bags of all sizes as well. But, as much as I dislike that gigantic garbage bag full of paper at the end of the holidays, I’ve sometimes yearned to cover a gift with a beautiful wrapper.

It was with this in mind this holiday season that I went on a search and found hemp gift wrap. Paporganics (pronounced payp or ganiks - a combination of “paper” and “organics”) was:

Inspired by the idea that environmentally sound paper can be beautiful too, we create stationery and gift wrap made from organic cotton, hemp and recycled fibers. Vegetable inks and responsible manufacturing practices bring our designs to life.

You may be wondering why you should even consider following the link to their site, or looking for other alternatives to traditional gift wrap. Consider this information, from Paporganics’ “what you can do” page:

Real recycling is a closed loop. It not only involves putting used paper in the correct bins but also requires using recycled paper to close the loop. Unfortunately, recycled paper only represents between 7 - 9% of the printing and writing paper market. This means that new trees are continually being harvested to support our paper consumption habits. Using recycled paper lessens the pressure put on natural resources and helps to keep functioning ecosystems intact. In addition, it helps to preserve landfills, supports recycling markets, and bolsters the economy.

For every 40 cases (or 1 ton) of 100% post-consumer recycled paper purchased instead of virgin fiber paper, we save:
Trees: 59
Water (gallons): 10,195
Energy (000 BTUs): 13,815
Solid Waste (lbs): 1,1082
Water Borne Wastes (lbs): 69
Atmospheric Emissions (lbs): 2,098

So check out their site today and make a difference this holiday season!

By the way, I wrote this post in less than 15 minutes, following Amanda’s suggestions at Naturally WAHMs. I didn’t use the alarms, as my little one is asleep on me at the moment, and my kids kept needing my attention, so it wasn’t completely focused. But I feel good for having done my first mostly-focused 15 minute post!

[tags] eco-friendly gift wrap, gift wrap, environmentally friendly wrapping paper, green holiday wrap, Paporganics, re-usable gift bags, natural living, parenting [/tags]

Photo by Timothy K. Hamilton via Flickr and is used under a Creative Commons license.