Between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, the amount of trash Americans produce increases 25%—amounting to one million extra tons of garbage each week!

Raise your hand if you knew that most wrapping paper wasn’t recyclable. Bummer, right???? Shiny, laminated wrapping paper is actually a recycling contaminate—if you include it in your recycling bin with other paper products, the whole load becomes un-recyclable.

The good news…there are plenty of gift wrapping alternatives.

• Cloth napkins, silk scarves, and cloth scraps make excellent gift wrap. HEAPS of cloth scraps are available for the cost of a donation at Turnip Green Creative Reuse. Learn how to gift wrap using the Japanese method of Furoshiki.

• Paper shopping bags and gift bags that made their way into your life throughout the year can be reused. If there’s a brand name you want to hide, cover it with a gift tag (cut up old holiday cards will work for this!)

• Butcher paper and newspaper are recyclable and compostable.

• Experience gifts don’t have to be wrapped!

Decorative ribbons, bows, and glittery holiday cards are also not recyclable. But, you can always save them to re-use next year—or if you really want them out of your house, offer them to a neighbor, friend, or family member who will re-use them or take them to a creative reuse store.