If you love giving gifts to loved ones like friends and families then you will have been through your fair share of gift bags, and although many gift bags are normally reused by the receiver, a lot of the time the materials they are made from arent super eco friendly.
With gift bags that you buy from the shops, although the majority of the material is either card or paper which as you would assume is recyclable, normally to enhance the appearance of the bags, plastic elements have been added like foils or laminate which unfortunately makes them only available for landfill. In this instance you may decide that you would like to make your own eco gift bags.
How to make your eco gift bags
There are a number of different ways that you can choose to make your eco gift bags, this method involves no measuring. All you need is:
- Choice of eco paper (can be old wrapping paper)
- An empty box (as a guide for size)
- Eco friendly tape
- Material for handles
For the paper that you use, if you don’t want to buy any, you can use old gift paper that you have lying around or old newspapers which would also help to prevent waste.
- Decide on the size of your bag
Firstly you need to plan how big you want your bag, this will be determined by the amount of paper you have but also the size of the box that you have. The box that you use should be roughly the size and shape that you want your eco gift bag to be. You don’t have to use a box but any book or block that you have that resembles the right size that you want the gift bag.
- Make the outside of your eco bag
Lay out your paper on a flat service and ensure that there are no folds or creases. Place your empty box (or book or block) on the paper in line with the paper. Ensure that the box is overhanging the paper on one edge but falls short of the paper on the other side. There should be enough paper overhanging to fold and cover the depth of the box. Wrap the paper around the sides of the box and secure with your eco tape. You might need to trim the paper to fit properly.
- Seal the bottom
You should have the sides of your box surrounded and secured with your paper with the box visible from one end and a significant paper overhang at the other end. Place it on the flat service with the box poking out face down, so that you can easily manoeuvre the paper at the other end. Fold the two flat edges of paper in to meet at the middle and crease along where the box ends. You should have two triangle folds either end, fold one of these into the middle followed by the other and secure with tape. It should look like an envelope type of finish.
- Add handles
Once you have removed the box from your paper, you should be able to see your eco gift bag fully take shape. Now is the time to attach handles, you can use folded or twisted paper for these. Just choose the length that you would like and secure to the inside of the bag with your eco tape.
You should now have a complete eco gift bag that you can use to give presents to family and friends. If you have secured it well enough they may even be able to reuse and give it to someone else.
