Every year when the holidays roll around, we’re reminded about the sheer amount of trees sacrificed for wrapping paper. Not to be all bah humbug, but there are plenty of creative means of wrapping gifts without having to spend money and the Earth’s resources on wrapping paper. Here are 25 such ideas (just to prove how easy it is, and because we like to show off).

25 things that can be recycled into gift wrapping:

1. Newspaper (funnies for the kids, cooking section for the foodies, Wall Street Journal for your business comrades)
2. Fabric
3. Baskets
4. Holiday gift bags you saved from last year’s gifts
5. These adorable reusable Christmas gift bags from Etsy
6. Tin cans
7. For the crafty folk: crochet or knit a bag
8. Theme packaging! For example, if you’re giving a great bag of Fair Trade coffee, simply put it in a coffee mug.
9. Cut up grocery bags and decorate them
10. Scarves (or alternately, for small gifts, you can hide them in a pair of mittens)
11. Give preserves, apple/pumpkin butters, etc and simply tie a bow around the jar
12. Last year’s calendar (hey, it’s December!)
13. Handkerchiefs or bandanas
14. Giving a kitchen themed gift? Wrap it in a kitchen towel.
15. Old maps (check your glove compartment box and behold the maps you never use and realize you no longer need!)
16. Aluminum foil – press it against a rough surface for a textured look. Aluminum foil requires no tape and it’s recyclable/reusable!
17. Those pretty handled bags you receive during your shopping excursions (think places like Sephora).
18. Small items can be packed into a toilet paper or paper towel roll, which can then be decorated with stickers, pens or paint
19. Scrapbook paper
20. Leftover wallpaper or shelf liner
21. You can often score partially used (or sometimes brand-new) rolls of wrapping paper at second-hand stores such as Goodwill and Salvation Army
22. Reusable shopping bags (hint, hint)
23. Decorative holiday boxes that can be used year after year
24. Stockings (the Christmas type, not the fishnet type – well, depending on the recipient we suppose you could go either way)
25. Tupperware that’s been sitting in your house, because you no longer use it, because you’ve switched to glass, because it’s healthier and it’s not plastic.