Chico, Sustainable

The holiday season approaches, and I am done with wrapping paper. I think it is tradition that needs to be put to rest, an idea that should be abandoned like an itinerant holiday fruitcake.

I don't think I need to spend any more money purchasing a roll of overpriced paper, which is then cut into pieces and put on display for a couple of weeks before throwing it into the trash.

Of course, when I was young my brother and I had fun burning the paper in the fireplace where we huddled close and watched it become engulfed by funky chemically-colored green and blue flames. I have probably reduced my lifespan by a couple of weeks as a result.

But can't wrapping paper be recycled? Well, sometimes--but there is often so much other stuff in the paper to make it glossy, shiny, etc. that recycling it is not always an option. The only city recycling website that I could find to specifically address the matter was out of Beaverton, Oregon, which mentioned that if the paper has any foil in it, then it can't be recycled. Okay, so how do I tell the difference between shiny, silver-colored paper and paper that has foil in it?

Other folks suggest saving and reusing wrapping paper. This thought is well-intentioned, but I mean, how many of us want to wrap a present in pre-folded, slightly-ripped paper that still has last year's scotch tape on it? Even so, I do try to save and reuse what I can, though the social challenge for me is that I want to be able to tell the folks to whom I am giving such gifts that is has been lovingly wrapped in second-chance paper. Sadly, not everyone truly appreciates this fact.

It is also rare that wrapping paper can be used a third time.

The ideal solution might be to give gifts that don't need to be wrapped in the first place, for example, last year I gave my cousins tickets to a musical in San Francisco, which fit nicely into a decorated envelope.

But for those of us who still like the idea of hiding the identity of our presents, I am liking the holiday gift bag idea, which are much more durable than wrapping paper in that they can be reused year after year. I think every family should have a holiday stash of these bags, which can be stored with ornaments, lights, and other seasonal decorations.

Another creative solution involves using colorful paper that would be recycled anyway, such as old calendars or out-of-date road maps. And of course, there is always the Sunday Comics.