Using newspaper for wrapping paper

I'm considering this, instead of wasting money on wrapping paper and recycling what I have, I think we are going to just use newspaper instead. Does that sounds nuts?:confused3
QUOTE]


YES

Isn't wrapping paper like $2 bucks at Wal-Mart? :sad2:
 
I had an aunt that used to use the comics... she would put nice ribbon or yarn on it. We loved it.

We for 15 second it takes to open a gift I dont see ink as an issue.
 
I'm considering this, instead of wasting money on wrapping paper and recycling what I have, I think we are going to just use newspaper instead. Does that sounds nuts?:confused3
QUOTE]


YES

Isn't wrapping paper like $2 bucks at Wal-Mart? :sad2:

I don't think the question is one of saving money. I believe OP is looking for ways to be more friendly to our environment.

Feel free to flame me.....I drive a Prius so I'm use to this :rotfl2:
 
I got my giftwrap at Walmart during the after Christmas sales (like 50 or 75% off). I think I paid a couple bucks for 4 or 5 rolls.

I've also seen some very large rolls of wrapping paper at our local dollar tree for $1. They even had Disney wrapping paper.

I reuse the same jingle bells each Christmas. And purchase the large rolls of curling ribbon from Walmart ($0.97 each and last for 2-3 Christmases). Likewise, my bows come from the dollar store ($1 for 20). I use the red, green, and white bows at Christmas and save the other colors for birthday gifts throughout the year.

It probably costs me $5-6 per year for ALL of my Christmas wrapping supplies.

Now, if I was trying to nicely decorate newspaper so that it looked Christmassy, it'd probably cost me at least $6 in paints, bows, etc... just to dress it up. Not to mention the time and mess involved.

Personally, I'd recycle the newspaper and hit the dollar store.
 

What about toilet tissue? At least it could be used again!

I read my news online. It's way better for Mother Earth, and I encourage all of you to do the same.
 
What about toilet tissue? At least it could be used again!

I read my news online. It's way better for Mother Earth, and I encourage all of you to do the same.



I do this too, but I get comped papers from time to time. Since we have a parrot these can be quite handy. :rotfl2:
 
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My mom makes us Christmas bags from fabric. We reuse them every year. Since her stroke, it is hard for her to make alot so we (my sisters' families and my family) each get a few each year. I'm hoping that next year I won't need to buy any paper at all :thumbsup2 They are really easy to make (if you have a sewing machine) and you can get fabric really cheaply. We do this for birthdays as well!

I personally don't like the idea of newspaper. I would rather turn carboard boxes inside out and decorate those with crayons, markers, etc. I would much rather throw the newspaper in the recycle bin than use it as wrapping paper.
 
Sometimes you can go to your local paper office and get end pieces of roll paper. it is the paper that they print on before it is used. I have some parents at our school that work for the paper and we use these for art paper for the children. It could be decorated as you wish.

I just buy the paper after christmas for like 75+% off.
 
I've saved the comics all year for years to wrap all the big gifts for the immediate family. We wrap small gifts and those for non-immediate family members in wrapping paper, but with the big toys the kids always got, I just can't bear to create that much garbage. The kids could care less and the tree always looks nice. We just put the ones in gift wrapping up front.

By the time we recycle the used comics and the cardboard from Christmas morning, we don't generate much extra garbage. We also use and reuse gift boxes and bags, but the kids (ages 8 - 21) tend to snoop into the bags.

I also try to save the paper from the big gifts we receive and use it again the following year. We give a lot of gifts and I usually go through less than one roll of wrapping paper each Christmas.

Sheila
 
Our papers are so inky I would hate to use it. You could make it look good with ribbons! Put the bad stories on the inside! I've read about wrapping in dish towels and bath towels (2 gifts in 1) but that is kind of weird unless you're getting a kitchen or bath item.
 
I think using newspaper is a great idea. Ink doesn't come off on your hands on our papers here either.

I would get some large Christmas stencils and let your kids decorate the outside with them. I have some that are inexpensive sponge type with bulbs, stars and trees. You could use stamp pads or just use some watered down tempra paint or almost any kind of paint.
 
Thanks for all the feedback guys!! I appreciate it! :)

Yes, my reason for doing this is more along the lines of just how wasteful wrapping paper is,etc, and trying to do something more green. I think my family would get a kick out of it, lol. My mom always wraps in craft paper w/real ribbons so it's right up their alley. One year she used cute brown paper gift bags made out of recycled paper, LOL. So non-traditional is the norm, lol.

I'll have to check my paper to see if the inks rub off. It's not the Honolulu Advertiser (I do read that online) but rather the Navy Times, which is delivered to my house weekly reguardless of if I want it or not lol. It's not bad news, they only put nice patriotic news in it LOL.

I don't have any brown bags because I use reusable, LOL. (Chicco bags which I LOVE!)

The idea of maps is great, since I have easy access to O'ahu maps, I might do that for smaller gifts, especially ones that are Hawaiian themed. (mac nuts and coffee lol!)

Thanks for the input guys!
 
The idea of maps is great, since I have easy access to O'ahu maps, I might do that for smaller gifts, especially ones that are Hawaiian themed. (mac nuts and coffee lol!)

Sorry but I gotta ask. Unless these are maps you already have, wouldn't getting new maps for your area (that would be used by others) be just as wasteful as wrapping paper? If the idea is to limit the waste, then this really isn't a solution. Now if you are looking for a great idea for wrapping a themed gift, then the maps sound perfect :thumbsup2
 
A lot of people seem to be missing the point here. This is not a money issue - it is an environmental one. If you already have the newspaper why throw it out or put it in for recycling when it can be used again. The slogan is reduce (as in reading your news online and not getting a newspaper), reuse (as in using the paper as wrapping paper) and then recycle.
 
A lot of people seem to be missing the point here. This is not a money issue - it is an environmental one. If you already have the newspaper why throw it out or put it in for recycling when it can be used again. The slogan is reduce (as in reading your news online and not getting a newspaper), reuse (as in using the paper as wrapping paper) and then recycle.

Yup.

I don't think some people realize that the poster is from Hawaii. I know that my home estate is awful with recycling. :headache: It has gotten to the point that Hawaii will be sending their trash to the "mainland." They need to be proactive about it.

Here's a current article:
Hawaii trash shipping costs vary


By Johnny Brannon
Advertiser Staff Writer



The cost of shipping some of O'ahu's trash to a Mainland dump could be far less than estimates included in a new garbage management plan, consultants who prepared the document conceded yesterday.

Honolulu should seek competitive bids for such a deal and decide whether any are feasible, representatives from the R.W. Beck firm told City Council members during the first public discussion of the draft plan released 12 days ago.

The company agreed to revise the document and include a contingency plan for disposing of trash if the city's Waimanalo Gulch landfill near Kahe Point is forced to close in May, when its operating permit expires.

Shipping trash out of Hawai'i or dumping it at a private landfill in Nanakuli are options briefly mentioned in the draft plan, but the city has not prepared any firm alternatives to Waimanalo Gulch.

The consultants had estimated it would cost between $245 and $341 per ton to ship trash to Washington state — far higher than the $91 that trash haulers now pay to dump each ton here.

Councilman Todd Apo called the figures "outrageous" and "misleading."

"If that were the range, nobody would be looking at doing it," he said, adding that three companies are working to set up such garbage shipping operations.

One firm offered a few years ago to charge less than $80 per ton, said Apo, who's pushing for the closure of Waimanalo Gulch.

R.W. Beck solid waste expert Robert Craggs said the company had not been aware of that offer, but he agreed that costs could be much lower than the plan's estimates, which are meant to be conservative.

It's hard to know how much such an operation would really cost, because there are no closely comparable ones anywhere else in the United States, Craggs said.

The plan calls for shipping bales of plastic-wrapped trash to Portland, Ore., then trucking them to the Roosevelt Regional Landfill in Washington.

But two companies have filed plans with the state Health Department that call for shipping the bales up Washington's Columbia River to a point much closer to the landfill. Another company wants to ship trash to an Oregon site.

The consultant plan estimates it would take until 2011 to start shipping the trash from Hawai'i, but at least one firm has indicated it could be ready in about six months.

Councilman Romy Cachola said he was skeptical about offers to ship trash for low prices.

"If they're not making money, they might end up not doing the job they're supposed to do," he said.

He said he's also worried a company could submit a "low-ball" bid for a contract that leaves the city dependent on a trash-shipping operation that could cost much more in the future.

The consultant plan assumes the Waimanalo Gulch landfill will be expanded and continue to operate for at least 15 years.

I applaud the OP for being proactive... :thumbsup2
 
I save the (colored) comic section to wrap kids birthday gifts in, but I can't imagine using the black and white "wordy" section for wrapping gifts, ecspecially Christmas. To each his own though! :goodvibes I do know that our black/white newsprint bleeds alot, you will have ink on your hands/fingers sometimes after reading, you might want to consider that factor when wrapping gifts that may need returned. I have never encountered a problem with the colored comics bleeding but it might.
 
I don't think the question is one of saving money. I believe OP is looking for ways to be more friendly to our environment.

Feel free to flame me.....I drive a Prius so I'm use to this :rotfl2:


Glad to "meet" another Prius owner! It's actually DH who mostly drives ours, but when I do have it, I've always gotten nice comments/ interested questions from people. Sorry to hear you're getting flame-y ones.


To the OP - I think the newspaper will go over fine. - It sounds like your family will appreciate it. I'd say used wide red or green ribbon, or even strips of holiday fabric for ribbon (cut them with pinking shears so it doesn't unravel.)

To the people who suggested the cloth gift bags - what a great idea! Maybe not for the kids, but the adults in our family would really love this. I'm all excited to try it. Thanks.
 
If you can't get brown paper bags in your area, I've gotten LARGE rolls at the dollar store. I'm sure no one would give a second thought to news-print, but having your kids decorate brown paper would look very snazzy!

You could get some sponges and cut one into the shape of a holly leaf, and cut some small circles out of the other and sponge paint on the brown paper, then tie the gifts up with raffia. I think that would look really nice. :)
 














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