Every year, I reluctantly dedicate an entire day to wrapping Christmas presents. As the warmth of the fire settles in and “O Holy Night” plays from the radio, there’s only so much sticky tape and torn paper a girl can take before it kills my holiday spirit. As I thought about how the COVID-19 pandemic will affect this season, I realized gift wrapping is the one tradition I won’t be upset to forget about this year.
Generating an estimated $7 billion annually in the U.S., according to Popular Science, people have grown fond of the gift wrapping tradition. However, I think it’s time we reevaluate this festive activity. The time commitment, rising costs and environmental impacts all persuade me to find another wrapping alternative.
Between the shopping, meal preparation, decorating and event planning, gift wrapping seems like just additive stress. Wrapping all my gifts takes at least one day every year and serves as a big time commitment during an already hectic season. After the third or fourth hour, I get a little irritated when I trip over yet another roll of wrapping paper.
Even if some forms of wrapping take less time than others, there’s still a decent price to pay to make your gifts look festive. Also, the expense of meals, decor and travel put an additional burden on students who have to pay next semester’s tuition, just days after the festivities end. In fact, research from Hallmark says Americans spend $3.2 billion annually on gift wrap, according to Vice.com, so the costs certainly add up.
While folks financially struggling shouldn’t feel obligated to feed into this holiday tradition, gift wrapping also harms our fragile ecosystems. Wrapping paper and shopping bags account for an annual 4 million tons of trash in the U.S. alone, according to The Atlantic. Some may use the excuse to just recycle the paper, but often other supplies are mixed with plastics, glitter, foil and other additives making that material no longer recyclable. Considering we are way overdue in developing more eco-friendly habits, this old tradition should be left in 2020.
To make one thing clear, I’m not advocating for shutting down the gift wrapping industry in its entirety. However, I encourage us to use this unconventional holiday season to ditch the usual gift wrap in exchange for more creative, cheaper and eco-friendly means. Let us know if you have a favorite gift wrapping alternative because together we can develop a less stressful and more sustainable tradition for this holiday season.