Help me decide on gift wrap

[amberskyfire]

I'm having a dilemma on what type of gift wrap to use for Christmas this year. We don't have the obvious reuse types such as newspaper (we don't get the paper or know anyone who does or can find anywhere to get it and we shop with reusable bags so have no paper grocery bags). Also, we don't buy items made in China or anywhere that might use very small children for slave labor.

Soooo...

1. Buy fair-trade wrapping paper and recycle it

or

2. Buy non-fair-trade but 100% recycled wrapping paper and recycle it

or

3. Buy made-in-China fabric and make reusable wrapping "paper"

What is the lesser of evils? Obviously the cloth would be the most lasting and so best for the environment, but made-in-China is a BIG no-no for us. Is there a better idea you know of?

[marimara]

What about using thrifted fabric, or old sheets from your own house.  Then it's recycled fabric!  We have this giant santa bag (probably made in china) but we just put all gifts that will fit into it and don't use paper of any kind.  Any large items just have a ribbon around them and are brought out in the night of Christmas Eve.

[hibana]

I second the thrift store fabric idea. If you google "furoshiki" you will find all sorts of creative ideas for beautiful wrapping techniques using cloth.

[amberskyfire]

I live on an island and neither of our thrift stores had anything usable. (We have an incredibly high homeless population and the pickings are slim, not at all like on the mainland.) Also, we don't have suitable cloth shopping bags. They are covered in stains and full of holes. It's been a trip trying to figure out what to do!

Thanks for the ideas! What I ended up doing was buying some years-old bolt-end fabric remnants on Etsy in Christmas prints and then I bought one roll of made-in-USA recyclable wrapping paper at the store which I plan to recycle after using and hopefully it will be the last roll I ever buy.

[jimblejamble]

Got any fabric remnants?

[amberskyfire]

Only very small ones. I ended up buying some remnants. I love Etsy!