What Can I Do with Wrapping Paper?

The holiday season is wrapping up (no pun intended) and your home is probably filled with crinkled and torn wrapping paper. As a kid, I thought  it was silly to open my presents neatly in order to save the gift wrap. Now that I’m older, I completely understand the reasoning behind that sentiment and I catch myself opening gifts slowly as to not rip the wrapping paper into pieces in hopes of reusing the wrapping later. Reusing gift wrap will not only save money, but less waste will end up in the landfill. According to Use Less Stuff, the U.S. accumulates 4 million tons of gift wrap and shopping bags during the holiday season. A bunch of that gift wrap can be either recycled or reused. If you are wondering what you can do to reduce the amount of gift wrap that end up in the landfill, think about different ways you can reuse them.If you want to save the wrapping paper for another gift, you can iron out wrinkles to make the wrapping paper look brand new. Just set the iron to low and iron away!However, if the wrapping paper is too torn to be saved you can shred it even more to make festive confetti, decorative packaging material, and comfy bedding for small pets such as rabbits and hamsters. Is being more creative part of your New Year’s Resolutions? You can start by being creative with used gift wrap. Wrapping paper makes excellent origami paper,  drawer lining, garland, labels, gift bows or even a festive wreath. The list goes on!Don’t forget that recycling is also an alternative to get rid of wrapping paper. You can place them into your blue recycling cart or drop them off at the City of Austin Recycle & Reuse Drop Off Center. Furthermore, not all wrapping paper is recyclable. If the wrapping paper has glitter or foil throw them into the trash bin or reuse them!How will you reuse wrapping paper after the holidays?