Reduce your environmental impact this year by learning how to wrap presents using fabric Furoshiki cloths.
There’s something magical about having beautifully wrapped gifts under your tree waiting to be unwrapped on Christmas morning. And, although it’s the carefully considered gift inside that matters most, seeing a loved one unwrap their gift is part of the joy that makes Christmas so wonderful.
Unfortunately, this tradition also contributes to the tonnes of single-use waste generated at Christmas time. According to Earth Collective, Australians use around 8,000 tonnes of wrapping paper during the festive period, equivalent to 50,000 trees.
Most people assume they can recycle wrapping paper, but unfortunately, this is a common myth. Most wrapping paper can’t be recycled due to the dyes, laminate, glitter, and foiling added to it. If you want to reduce waste this festive season, try wrapping your presents in fabric using the Furoshiki method.
Furoshiki is the traditional Japanese art of wrapping items in fabric to protect and carry them. This method dates back 1200 years, but today Furoshiki has become a favoured way to wrap gifts to avoid single-use wrapping paper.
Swapping fabric wrapping for single-use wrapping paper is one of the easiest ways to reduce Christmas waste. It’s also a more practical way to wrap gifts as the fabric won’t tear and is more pliable when wrapping oddly shaped gifts.
Learn how to wrap presents using fabric Furoshiki cloths
You don’t have to purchase special Furoshiki cloths to wrap gifts. You can make the wrapping part of the gift, such as using a tea towel, shirt or pillowcase.
There are many ways to wrap your gifts in fabric. You don’t need a square gift to wrap it in fabric. You can use the Furoshiki method to wrap bottles, balls and even large items. The best way to learn is to watch videos on Youtube, especially if you have challenging gifts to wrap. For small square gifts such as a flower press, follow the instructions below to wrap it in fabric.
Step 1: Place your fabric on a table and place your gift on top at a 45 degree angle.
Step 2: Take the corners diagonal to each other, bring them together into the centre, and tie them in a knot.
Step 3: Take the last two corners diagonal to each other, bring them into the centre, and tie them in a knot over the top of the first knot.
Step 4: If you need to add a gift tag, simply tie this around the knots.
Sustainable decorations
Instead of using the foil bows and ribbons that commonly adorn paper wrapped gifts, decorate your fabric wrapped gifts using environmentally friendly items such as cinnamon rolls, dried citrus slices, herbs, foliage or dried flowers. All of these decorations can be placed in the garden to decompose naturally once Christmas is over.
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