Like a Rorschach inkblot test or a game of word association, the trigger “Christmas day” arouses a flurry of images for me. While Santa, stockings, cookies and Christmas trees are all in the reel of my memory, there’s another image that stands out: wrapping paper. Mounds and mounds of wrapping paper, ribbons, boxes, gift bags, cardboard. And more wrapping paper.

On Christmas day in my family’s house, what started as a few scraps of tissue paper or torn metallic snowmen ripped from a package would soon grow into a mountainous, colorful heap of garbage. Sitting in the corner meant running the constant risk of a tightly rolled wad of wrapping paper to the head as the pile rapidly grew.

While I love the memory of that heap of wrapping paper and ribbons, I realize the environmental impact extends beyond the moment when we would finally shove the colorful mass into a garbage bag. According to the Stanford Recycling Center, Americans generate and throw away 25% more trash between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, which is equivalent to an additional 5 million tons of garbage.

The Stanford Recycling Center also reports, “if every American family would wrap 3 presents in re-used materials, it would save enough paper to cover 45,000 football fields.”

Easing the Holiday’s Environmental Impact with an Alternative to Wrapping Paper

If you don’t want to sacrifice the appeal of a beautifully wrapped present but you’d like to reduce the environmental effect of gift-giving this holiday season, consider furoshiki, a traditional Japanese wrapping cloth.

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Have you considered not chopping down a Christmas tree this year? Or giving time rather than things? Whether you are a small-town parent looking to purchase a few gifts for your immediate family or an L.A. jet setter who needs to buy for a staff of 50, consider some of the following options to help make the holidays more meaningful and less of a disaster on the environment.

Recycling is Your Friend

Cut up old holiday cards and use them for decoupage projects, gift tags, scrap booking, making new cards, or kids crafts.

Give an herb garden kit to a favorite gardener friend, family member, or employee. If that person happens to live in a northern climate, the ground will be frozen in December, so be certain not to include anything that needs immediate planting.

Use and give rechargeable batteries. You can use them many times before taking them to your nearest battery recycling center.

Newspaper, old gift bags, comics and magazines make great wrapping paper. Think about using the comic section as wrapping for your child’s gift, or old Martha Stewart magazine pages to wrap that herb kit. In our family we just recycle gift bags every year. Sure, I might receive this year’s gift in the bag I put my nephew’s gift in last Christmas, but who cares?

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Going green for the holidays doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice style. Here are seven green ideas and products that will allow you to wrap up the holidays, without compromising your earth ethics.

Wrap With Eco Paper

The PS Green Choices line is lovely gift wrap printed on Eco-White, 100 per cent recycled, 30 per cent post-consumer waste, paper. It’s archival, acid-free, and absolutely beautiful.

There are plenty of holiday choices to choose from in both sheets and rolls. Moss & Blossom Retro Snowflakes are my personal favorite.

Go Natural

Plain brown recycled paper bags, newspaper, or even foil can become pieces of gift-wrapped art, with a little imagination. Gather small pine cones, acorns, branches, sturdy winter tree leaves, or fresh sprigs of organic lavender. If you have the time, you can even press flowers and then glue them to the outside of packages. Use recycled ribbons, lace or glue to attach your nature goods to your gifts.

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Have you ever wondered what to do with all the things that sit unused in your home? Do you have an attic full of old furniture, lamps, and clothing? Instead of tossing it in the bin, what if you spent your time off this holiday creating original works of art. A leather coat could become a throw, a lamp shade could be turned into a beautiful dining room light, or Grandma’s old tea pot could be restored.

Inspired by this idea, Lisa Widén and Anna Irinarchos formed playful design duo Wis Design in 2006 after both graduating from Beckmans College of Design, in Sweden. This design duo became an almost overnight success producing work for big-name clients such as Design House Stockholm and Casamania, to name but a few. You could say they’ve become the darlings of the Swedish furniture design scene.

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This past spring, 23 year old Emily Jubenville entered the 3rd Whale’s “Greenest Person on the Planet” contest, placing second. A graduate in environmental science she is fanatical about recycling, creating her own cleaning products, and is deeply committed to community gardening. Emily lives in Vancouver’s West End, and grows most of her own vegetables in a window sill garden.

1. My family and friends are the most important thing in the world to me.
2. Climate change is real.
3. Climate change is the biggest opportunity that faces our generation.
4. It’s possible to grow your own food even on the 11th floor of an downtown apartment building.
5. There’s nothing more refreshing then an early morning bike ride in the fog.
6. There are far too many interesting gadgets at MEC. The best outdoor gear and clothing.
7. I love my bike.
8. I never want to stop learning.
9. I never want to stop caring about the world and our people. Check out my favorite web site World Changing change your thinking.
10. I WANT TO SAVE THE WORLD!