My parents were not the ones who taught me "eco-friendly" values. I picked that up from books, media, trips to parks, and my awesome elementary school. Slowly, as I started applying the lessons to my own life, my parents started to use reusable bags at the grocery store and put some food scraps into their green bin instead of the trash. Along the way, without anyone making an intentional decision, our gift-packing methods shifted. Slowly, we started to use less wrapping paper and more tissue paper and bags at Christmas (or as I think of it, the winter solstice celebration). Each year, we save the tissue paper and bags (and sometimes ribbons) to be reused next time. Each year, the pile of trash and recycling to be tossed after opening presents is smaller.
I am delighted about this shift. As I told my mother, this adds to my enjoyment of the celebration, rather than worrying about the environmental impact of wrapping gifts in disposable paper.
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