Go green this season (and save some money) by choosing repurposed wrapping paper alternatives.

If you are freaking out right now about getting everything done before the holidays, take chill pill. We’ve got your back–or at least we can help you with wrapping your gifts this year.

According to The Atlantic, we spend $2.6 billion annually on wrapping paper and much of it cannot be recycled as a result of the dyes, laminates, glitter, and other decorative materials that make up wrapping paper. Instead of wasting money on wrapping paper that will inevitably end up in the landfill, use repurposed alternatives found around your house, the craft store, or thrift stores. Can’t see how that would work? Read on to discover some super easy (and green) alternatives to using store-bought wrapping paper.

Alternatives to Wrapping Paper

1. Newspaper/Magazines

The most obvious choice for repurposed alternatives to wrapping paper is newspaper. Of course, many of us do not take part in paper delivery anymore, but it’s around. Try asking neighbors, co-workers, families, or friends.

2. Snack Bags

Get super clever with your gift packing by repurposing snack bags. Turn snack bags (like chip bags) inside out and clean them well. You can either use them as a bag or cut them along one side and the bottom to use a flat wrap.

3. Brown Paper

Nothing is simpler than brown paper packing. It works for all gift occasions–holidays, birthdays, weddings, housewarmings–and can be decorated with that special handmade touch. You can purchase extra large rolls of brown paper to keep on hand for gift wrapping, package stuffing, for covering the table for crafting time, and more.

4. Baskets

Baskets can easily be repurposed for holiday regifting and are ubiquitous at thrift stores and yard sales. Even Easter baskets will work, simply dip dye them in more winter holiday appropriate colors.

5. Tea Towels/Cloth Napkins

Give a gift within a gift by using a practical home textile like tea towels or cloth napkins to wrap a gift up in. Other ideas include handkerchiefs, hand towels, washcloths, dishcloths, and more.

6. Decoupaged Boxes

Repurpose food boxes (like cereal boxes) as gift boxes by decoupaging them with colorful paper like junk mail, newspapers, catalogs and more. Cereal boxes can easily be cut up and made into take-out style boxes using this clever tutorial.

7. Fancy Shopping Bags

Reuse those fancy shopping bags with the handles as gift bags. If you want to disguise them as store shops, easily cover over logos or lettering with repurposed paper like maps, sheet music, old holiday cards, and more.

8. Mason Jars

Of course, mason jars are perfect for food treats, but they can also work for for small gifts. Things like homemade soy votive candles or handmade jewelry gifts would also fit nicely nestled inside a repurposed mason jar.

9. Reusable Fabric Bags

If you are handy with a sewing machine, you can purchase (or repurpose) lightweight cotton fabrics and make reusable drawstring fabric gift bags.

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There’s nothing more satisfying than giving someone the perfect gift, the kind that you are just as, if not more, excited about giving than the receiver is about, well, receiving. But what if that gift had a life beyond the confinement of its wrapping paper? What if the gift gave more than just an object, but an experience or repetitive value? The following 11 gift ideas attempt to do just that. They don’t just make great gifts—they make great stories!

11 Holiday Gifts That Keep on Giving

1. Yoga Membership

We all have that friend who wants to engage in more self-love activities, particularly yoga. Make it easier for your friend to get started by gifting her a month’s membership at the nearest yoga studio. Join her as much as you can to help her new habit stick!

2. Juicer or Blender

Nothing keeps on giving quite like a juicer or blender. Motivate someone in your life to start drinking healthier and more creatively with one (or both!) of these machines.

3. Books…Forever!

For your bibliophile friends, consider signing them up for a GiftLit subscription. Each month, the service sends age and content-appropriate books to them.

4. Drybar Membership

I can’t imagine a better gift. When blowouts became a thing, the world became a better place because of it. Gift a Drybar membership to a lucky friend or family member and she’ll always have her locks on point.

5. Skydiving

Okay, this is admittedly an aggressive gift that not everyone will enjoy receiving (raises hand), but if you have a daredevil friend who may have dropped a hint that she’d like to take the (literal) plunge, then gift her the experience of a lifetime. Just make sure she is a good friend, because skydiving can run for about $250 a pop.

6. Three-day Detox

Gift your friend a seamless escape from holiday indulgence with a foolproof re-set button: a three-day cleanse. Almost every major city has cold-press juice and raw/vegan food cleanses available. Find one fit for your friend and sign her up! This will not only make for a thoughtful gift but also motivate your friend to transform her diet for the better. My favorite service: Sakara.

7. Cooking Class

Join a local cooking class and bring your friend along for the perfect bonding (and eating) experience.

8. Singing Lessons

Okay, bear with me here. I am a strong believer that we should all practice our singing skills, even if we are admittedly terrible at it. It’s a form of expression and even if your friend is not naturally talented at it, she can at least have a lot of fun pretending for an hour. And if she’s good at it, your gift only cultivates a talent!

9. Endless Stream of Flowers

The Bouqs Co. is an e-florist that delivers “farm to table” flowers from sustainable sources on a weekly, monthly, or quarterly basis. Starting at $32 per month, your friend can enjoy bouquet after bouquet after bouquet. Every time she admires her flowers, she’ll think of you!

10. Language Learning Software

It’s never too late to pick up a new language, but it requires commitment. Help your friend or family member get started with a language learning software.

11. Grooming Essentials

This one is for the men in your life. Bevel sells high quality razors, shaving cream, and other grooming products. You can order a Shave System Starter Kit or sign up for a $29.95 subscription for quarterly shipping of grooming products.

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These stocking stuffers are geared toward the yogi, the vegan, the meditator, and the soul-searcher. You know who I am talking about – the person who actually looks at ingredient lists and actually gives a shit about what they put on their skin and in their bodies. The one who typically eschews gifts for that very reason — because it’s not always easy to buy gifts for such friends or family members. But if done right, it can be a lot more fulfilling. These seven stocking stuffer ideas will help you make the right choice for your loved one.

7 Stocking Stuffers for the Eco-Conscious Soul

1. Crash Jewelry Teal Porsche Bundle

Jewelry is a common gift, but it’s not always meaningful beyond the act of giving itself. CRASH Jewelry adds a little more thought to their beautiful jewelry designs, like this Teal Porsche bundle, which includes a bangle, a necklace, rings, and earrings. CRASH make sustainable accessories from the metal of luxury automobiles that have had minor accidents. Each order arrives with a certificate of authenticity that lists the name of the car that the jewelry came from. Bundle price: $230.

2. SoulMakes Chloe Quartz Keychain

Be engaged in the healing process at all times with this quartz keychain. Clip it onto a set of keys or a favorite purse and let it spread the good vibes wherever it goes. Price: $23.

3. Aura Cacia Grounding Root Organic Chakra Balancing Roll On

Give the gift of groundedness with this simple chakra-balancing roll on. Apply its essences onto the crown of your head, behind the ears, just under the neck, and to the temples. It’s made with water and pure essential oils, including vetiver, patchouli, bergamot, and nutmeg. Use daily! Price: $15.

4. 100% PURE Sheer Cherry Lip Gloss

Make-up is a common stocking stuffer gift for any queen in your life, but don’t just gift  any ol’ lip gloss – gift a lip gloss made with natural, recognizable ingredients that will enhance not only beauty but also nourish the skin. This sheer cherry lip gloss is made with grapeseed oil, shea butter, beeswax, and vitamin E and the pigmented extracts of pomegranate, wine, cherry, cranberry, blackberry, raspberry, peach, coca bean, plum, vitamin C, and strawberry. Price: $20.

5. Simply Divine Get Acquainted Kit

You may not want to splurge on a full set of natural organic skincare for a friend or family member, because that can become quite expensive, but samples will do just fine. Cult-favorite Simply Divine Botanicals is an old school natural skincare player whose longevity speaks volumes about its quality. In this pack of more than a dozen samples, you get the full-body experience, head to toe. Price: $39.

6. Fine & Raw Coconut Chunky Chocolate

Fine & Raw produces perhaps the most delicious raw chocolate out there. The holidays are certainly about indulgence, and Fine & Raw’s coconut chunky bar is in good company. The difference it has with regular milk or dark chocolate varieties is that it is made with raw cacao, coconut butter, blue agave, coconut sugar, cacao butter and is completely unprocessed and not heated in a way that destroys its inherent nutrition. Try it once and you’ll be hooked. Price: $7.

7. 52 Lists for Happiness

If you’ve got a list lover in your life, this is the perfect gift. This book makes journaling a matter of inspiring positivity, balance, and joy. Author Moorea Seal draws from happiness research and her own personal philosophy to create a tool for list lovers so that they can unveil their own unique happiness. The 52 listing prompts encourage readers to reflect, acknowledge, and invest in themselves. Price: $13.

*Disclaimer: Help support EcoSalon! Our site is dedicated to helping people live a conscious lifestyle. We’ve provided some affiliate links above in case you wish to purchase any of these products.

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Have a few cat parents and their feline roommates on your gift list this year? Never fear, we have got you covered with gifts for all the cat lovers on your list.

Whether you are a fellow cat lover, or you are convinced that cats are aliens were sent here to take over the world, buying gifts for those who love cats and the cats themselves, may seem challenging. It’s okay, you don’t have to do it on your own. We have pulled together a round-up of some of the most purrfect gift ideas for cat lovers this holiday season. From gifts for the humans to gifts for their fur-children, this list has a little bit of everything.

Purr-fectly Wonderful Holiday Gifts for Cat Lovers

1. Cole and Marmalade calendar – Most cat lovers know who Cole and Marmalade are. If you don’t, look them up and buy their calendar.

2. Kitty Scarf – This kitty scarf is just purr-fect for the crazy cat lady in your life!

3. Music for Cats – Someone made species-specific music for cats. Intrigued? We bet the cat lover in your life would be too!

4. Snarky Cat Mug – While this mug might not be for everyone, the average cat person is 75 percent snarkier than your average dog lover. True story.

5. Cat Pillowcases – Humans and cats alike will approve of these cat silhouette pillow cases.

6. Digger Feeder – The evil geniuses at Catit keep coming up with clever cat toys and lifestyle products. This digger feeder is designed to help stimulate the natural hunter found in every cat no matter how domesticated.

7. Kipnipbox – Give the gift that keeps on giving with this subscription box that caters to cats and is full of treats, toys, and gifts just for cats.

8. Kitty Beds/Blankets – Cats love to sleep and their human parents love that these kitty beds help protect furniture and can be thrown in the washer and dryer too.

9. Grass Kit – Not only does eating grass make cats happy, it may make for fewer problems associated with hairballs and fewer trips to the vet–and maybe less cat vomit, but probably not.

10. Cat Mom/Dad Tee – Your favorite human cat parent will wear this tee proudly and appreciate your thoughtfulness at the same time.

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Reduce waste and put a personalized touch on your holiday gifts this season with these DIY gift bags. These rustic stamped bags make the perfect vessel for all your holiday gifts and the recipients will love that you made them yourself.

These DIY gift bags are fun and easy to make! Involve your kids for a fun crafting session and teach them the importance of recycling while you’re at it.

The waste that accumulates during the holiday season is largely due in part to gift wrap and shopping bags. According to Stanford University, Americans throw away 25 percent more trash during the holiday season. If just three presents per American family were wrapped in reused materials “it would save enough paper to cover 45,000 football fields.”

By repurposing shopping bags into gift bags, you reduce your holiday waste and save money. The only cost you’ll have for this DIY project is the accessories like washi tape, stamps, ink, and ribbons. But you can reduce those costs (or avoid them altogether) by reusing materials from past gifts.

Gift bags are preferable to the environment than wrapping paper since wrapping paper is torn apart upon opening. Gift bags, however, can be reused for years to come. Encourage your gift recipients to reuse the bags instead of disposing of them after.

There are also alternatives to using tissue paper in gift bags. You can use already read newspapers or magazines neatly crumpled instead. If you get some weird glances at the holiday gift exchange, simply explain that you are choosing to reuse materials in order to cut back on waste.

Tips

I like to use Anthropologie bags when I make these since they are solid and sturdy enough for reuse. You can cover the store logo on the bag with a strip of decorated washi tape. If you don’t have any extra shopping bags on hand, then you opt for brown paper craft bags made from recycled materials.

If your reused gift bags and/or tissue paper are wrinkled you can make them look like new again with an iron. Heat an iron over low heat with no steam and then press the bags and tissue paper until the wrinkles are gone. Be sure to turn off the iron after and move it away from the bags and paper.

You can also make this project even more eco-friendly by making your own stamps from wine corks! Pair them with eco-friendly stamp pads made from non-toxic ink to avoid harsh fumes from chemicals.

DIY Gift Bags

What You’ll Need
Shopping bags
Washi tape
Holiday themed stamps
Stamp pad
Recycled gift tags
Ribbon or twine

Directions
Flatten your shopping bag and place it on a hard surface. Press a stamp into the ink pad and then press the stamp onto the bag. Make sure to press evenly to ensure the ink fills out the stamp shape. Repeat until desired design is achieved.

Place a strip of washi tape over the shopping bag logo. Trim the tape so it hits the side of each bag.

Let the stamped bag dry for about 10-15 minutes. Once dry, flip the bag and repeat above on the other side. Let dry for 10-15 minutes more.

Decorate each gift tag with a matching stamp and tie onto the bag strap with a piece of ribbon.

Fill decorated bags with gifts and top with recycled tissue paper. Happy gift giving!

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Images via Karissa Bowers

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Don’t give Dad another tacky tie this Father’s Day. Instead gift him with with one of these cool subscription boxes for men. Yeah, they like surprises on the reg, too. 

Sometimes it seems all too easy to fall into those old Father’s Day gift-giving tropes–the tie, the golf-themed tchotchkes, a “World’s Best Dad” coffee mug. While your dad may appreciate the thought, we are pretty sure that stuff just ends up in a landfill somewhere. Why not gift your dad something cool that he will actually use this year instead? And what’s with all the subscription boxes aimed at us ladies? Guys dig ’em too, even if they play it cool.

Of course, the trick is to get your dad a subscription box that he will actually use–for goodness sake, don’t get him a bad tie subscription!

We have selected some of our favorite subscription boxes that just might be perfect for gifting your dad this Father’s Day. These boxes just might also be perfect for your mom’s birthday, holiday gift-giving, for a housewarming gift, and more.

9 Subscription Boxes for Men

1. Dollar Shave Club – Unless your dad has a full-on beard give him the gift of quality replacement razors. The Dollar Shave Club is super affordable and offers replacement razors that are suitable for men and women shavers.
2. Craft Beer Club – This club is perfect for the microbrew enthusiast dad. At just $39 a month, it will get your dad 12 independently-brewed beers delivered each month.
3. Bos Creek – Bos Creek offers monthly subscription boxes full of meat from grass-fed pasture-raised animals. There are beef, mixed meat, and custom boxes available.
4. Mantry – While the name may be kind of questionable, the service is not. The Mantry box delivers six curated food products around a theme from artisan makers every two months. Past box themes include Pizza Party, Bourbon BBQ, and Tailgate Tour.
5. Bitters and Bottles – The Bitters and Bottles Home Bar subscription includes 4-6 full-size quality ingredients delivered monthly.  Each box provides curated spirits for craft cocktails that aren’t too basic, but nothing too fancy either.
6. Nerd Block – Nerd Block is a toy collection subscription box. Every month their expert nerds select outstanding gear, toys and collectibles to curate the nerdiest of toy collectible boxes.
7. Loot Crate – In the same vein as Nerd Block, but with more gear, Loot Crate delivers the best in geek and gaming gear. From collectibles, apparel, tech gadgets, art, and other epic gear, Loot Crate claims to be like Comic-Con in a box.
8. Naturebox  – Help your dad snack healthier and tastier by gifting him a Naturebox subscription. Who wouldn’t love snacks delivered to their door each month?
9. KinderBox – KinderBox claims to be a monthly subscription box service for men. While we would argue that many women would like the boxes too, we do like the mix of everyday outdoorsy adventure gear and grooming products offered and think it would be a great gift for many dads.

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Father’s Day Gift Image via Shutterstock

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Gift mom with one of these subscription boxes for Mother’s Day this year. It’s the gift that will keep on giving.

For some of us, Mother’s Day can sometimes be fraught with the gift-giving conundrum. What to gift the woman who brought you into this world and continues to nourish your mind, body, and soul with her motherly wisdom, love, and chicken soup when you’re sick? We think subscription boxes, while a pale comparison to how awesome your mom is, are a brilliant solution for Mother’s Day. It is possible to find subscription boxes that will fit the personality of most moms. Is your mom an adventurous cook, an avid reader, a lover of animals? There’s a box for that.

We have selected some of our favorite subscription boxes–hopefully, one is a fit for your mom!

Subscription Boxes for Mother’s Day

1. KitNipBox – Is your mom a cat lover? Gift her (and her favorite feline) a monthly box of cat goodies for crazy cat fun all year long. And if your mom is more of a dog person, try out Barkbox. While these may seem more like presents for your Mom’s pets, serious pet lovers would love these boxes!
2. Book Drop – For readers who prefer physical books over digital books, try out Book Drop. It’s a subscription box that is lovingly created and run by a little independent bookstore. There are several different options from which to choose, but “The Jane” box is by far the most popular. It features Contemporary, Historical, and Literary Fiction titles.
3. Audible – And while it’s not a subscription box per se, Audible is a monthly audiobook subscription service perfect for those prefer to listen to books. For a monthly subscription, members can choose a new audiobook to listen to each month. Listeners can enjoy their books on their phones, tablets, computers, and via Bluetooth devices too.
4. The Spicery – This subscription box is another in the very large category of food and cooking boxes, but it’s all about trying something new. With options that include Friday Night Curry, Date Night, and Meat Free Magic, there’s a lot of variety for adventurous and spicy cooks.
5. Chroma Club – If your mom is into the adult coloring book craze, gift her with the Chromas Club. Beautiful and original coloring books will be shipped to her every month. The club boasts that their coloring books are the perfect blend of art, fun, and challenge, with illustrations drawn by artists from around the world.
6. Terra Bella Box – The Terra Bella Box includes handmade, small-batch beauty products made from natural ingredients. Each month subscribers receive a variety of beauty products for face, body, bath, hair, and sometimes even cosmetics.
7. Norsebox – Norsebox calls itself the Nordic Design Subscription. Each Norsebox features 1-5 seasonal items from Scandinavian designers. The boxes focus on one room of the home, but will move around each month to give each room a fresh, Scandinavian update.
8. Club W – If your mom likes a glass of wine (or 2) in the evening, gift her the Club W subscription. Club W works with subscribers to create a palate profile to deliver the wines that you (or your mom–remember this gift is for your mom) will love.
9. Love Goodly – This subscription features a mix of eco-friendly, nontoxic, cruelty-free, vegan products that can include everything from beauty, skincare, and wellness goodies to snacks and style accessories. Sounds perfectly lovely for your conscious shopping mom.

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Image: Present on Wooden Background via Shutterstock

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