More on Christmas Wrap

This is my last word on this subject. Promise.
Did you know Friends of the Earth says six per cent of all annual paper waste is wrapping paper from Christmas?
I took a picture of my living tree bark paper from Ten Thousand Villages. UNICEF also sells it.
Environmentally friendly, socially conscious, and quite pretty, I think.

Alternatives to Christmas wrap:

Seems my earlier blog on the evils of wrapping paper has led people to ask me a well-deserved question: how do I wrap my Christmas presents?
I choose reusable bags. Yes, these are made with the evil dyed paper, but I reuse a bag an average of twenty times before it falls apart, which is much more often than a piece of wrapping paper can be reused. I also reuse the tissue paper, which lasts an average of five bags.
Cloth bags are an even better choice. Hemp is preferable to cotton, since most cotton fields are heavy pesticide users, and cotton is generally bleached. However, organic cotton bags with natural dyes are a good alternative. Silk makes for an especially lovely bag. Cloth bags can be decorated with bows and arranged in such a way that there is still the anticipation of opening them, and can be quite pretty. Also, given their shape and flexibility, they can be used to mislead the recipient as to their contents.
Then there are the more environmentally friendly forms of wrapping paper. There is a type of paper made from the living bark of a tropical tree that is sold by Ten Thousand Villages that is a beautiful, colorful, thick paper. This tree readily regrows its bark, so the paper is a renewable resource. Also, by shopping at Ten Thousand Villages, the money spent goes directly into the hands of third world artisans, and not to evil corporations. (I like that word, evil.) Another paper choice is of course recycled paper, made with peroxide instead of chlorine bleach, and organic dyes.
Another choice is homemade paper. Twenty years ago, we bought a $7 roll of unbleached newsprint paper, the kind that goes into the presses. We use it for kid’s art projects. We still have over half the roll left. A very good buy. Sometimes for Christmas, we paint the paper in Christmas images and patterns, and use that for wrap. Then we are not only giving a gift, but also a work of art (depending on your definition of art).
I hope that supplies enough ideas on how to make your Christmas presents pretty and fun to open without polluting and deforesting our planet.

Wrapping Paper is Evil

Every year my church does Christmas wrapping at the mall as a fundraiser. All local charities are invited to participate. The mall provides the paper and supplies, and the shoppers can donate money to the charity for the wrap if they want. Every year I am asked if I will participate in this project, and every year I decline. I explain that I won’t participate because I consider wrapping paper to be evil, and to do it in Jesus’ name a sacrilege. People are usually taken aback by this declaration.
I think of wrapping paper as evil because first, trees are cut down to produce it. Trees, among their other fine qualities, are our biggest protection against global warming. Most forestry industries do not replace trees at anything close to a rate comparable to their taking.
Once the trees are cut and milled, chlorine is used to bleach the paper, adding a multitude of toxic chemicals, the organochlorines, to our waterways. Then, colored dyes are added, creating more toxins such as mercury and arsenics.
After all this wanton environmental destruction and waste of natural resources, what do we do with this precious product? We tear it up and toss it away. Most people don’t even bother to recycle. And, to further add to the disrespect for this wonderful world we’ve been given, we do all this in God’s name. God must spend her son’s birthday crying.
The worst part is, whenever I explain this to someone, they laugh and call me a scrooge.
Bah humbug.