Wrapping Christmas gifts is wasteful in terms of money and the environment, which are the reasons liberals are saying "it's time to do away with wrapping paper, once and for all," HuffPost's Kate Bratskeir writes.
"We're still throwing away our money on wrapping paper ― especially around the holidays," she wrote.
"It's time to do away with wrapping paper, once and for all, and here's why: Most wrapping paper is not recycled (and much of it can't be), so it ends up in landfills."
She cites a Sundale Research report that revealed the U.S. spent $12.7 billion on gift wrap – paper, tissue, gift bags, bows, etc. – in 2017
"What a waste," she wrote. "This is stuff designed to be torn into shreds and tossed away in less than 60 seconds."
Much of it ends up in landfills, even if it is recyclable, because of tape, ink, or glitter, according to Going Zero Waste's Kathryn Kellogg and Litterless' Celia Ristow.
"The ink diminishes the yield," paper recycling consultant Bill Moore told HuffPost. "It creates extra sludge when you process it; it requires additional chemicals."
Before providing alternatives for traditional and wasteful wrapping paper, including using old magazines and newspaper, Ristow told HuffPost giving up gift wrap should not be as tough as other things in our society.
"There are things that seem really hard for us as a culture to give up," she told HuffPost. "Packaged foods, we can avoid them, but we're humans and sometimes we need to grab something on the go.
But wrapping paper, "seems like it should be much easier to give up," she added. "To me, it's a no-brainer to focus first on those things that are less dear and easier to replace.
". . . I still wrap most of my gifts in brown paper saved from packages. Despite our best efforts, we're going to order stuff online and it'll come with, at best, paper."
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.