A LITTLE EFFORT CAN GO A LONG WAY

STELLARTON - For Allison MacDonald wrapping gifts isn't a holiday chore but an outlet for creativity.
The Stellarton mom strays from using traditional gift-wrapping paper to create one-of-a-kind gift presentations both environmentally friendly and extra special for the recipient.
"It's a good chance to rethink some of our habits we have of consuming all the time and it's a little more meaningful to the person receiving the gift," she said.
She said people are only limited by their imagination to find a creative way to give a gift. Brown paper bags can be decorated with stamps or children could draw pictures on them. Old cookie tins or re-usable shopping bags can also dress up a gift
"I think it's important to show our kids that we can think of things in a different way instead of buying, buying, buying all the time," she said. "There are lots of things you can use from around the house."
Susan MacDonald, an educator for Pictou County Solid Waste Management, said, with a little advance planning, people can make the wrapping a part of the gift package.
"For example you can stuff small things into an oven mitt and tie it with a bow," she said. Another simple idea is to have children dip hands in paint and put their prints on plain canvass shopping bags.
"It would be a treasure for a grandparent and it's a reusable gift," she added.
She said wallpaper is another ideal for wrapping gifts because of its many designs and the thickness of it. Sometimes hardware stores have books with samples of wallpaper they dispose of as styles change and those pages make good all-season wrapping paper.
With a little advance planning people could set aside a box and add to it year round whenever they see something that would make a good present wrapper, she explained.
Waste collection increases considerably at the landfill following the holidays, so she is encouraging people to get creative and help the environment by reducing wrapping paper waste.
Limiting the use of products decorated with glitter, such as cards or wrapping paper, is also a good way to reduce waste.
"They can save money by doing this type of creative wrapping too," said the educator. "People love to get things that have been handed down through generations."
Cookie tins, bowls and jars can all be used to conceal a gift.