Why We Care
Most districts do not recycle wrapping paper because the paper is often embedded with other materials such as wax, plastic and metal from glitter or other decorative features which can’t be recycled. Even if you are dedicated enough to remove all the tape from the paper, the paper itself contains very little quality fibers and most likely will not be recycled. As this unrecycled paper decomposes in landfills it produces methane, a greenhouse gas that is 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide. Sure wrapping paper may be used a few times, but it will quickly become too tattered to reuse. Paper by nature has a limited life span especially when folded and taped. Your Wrapadapt gift wrapping can be reused hundreds of times and will last decades. Using special recycled and recyclable wrapping paper to wrap your gifts is a good step forward. However the energy and resources used in processing and transporting this paper are still high. Recycling has its limits, paper can only be recycled 4-6 times, as the fibers get shorter and weaker each time. In addition, virgin pulp (which has no recycled content) must be added to the recycled pulp to maintain the strength and quality of the paper, so no matter how much we recycle we will always need some virgin fiber. Therefore it is better to use less paper altogether.
