Christmas morning, we’ll hear, “get up, get up! Its time to open presents” they can not wait one more second to see what is all wrapped up under the tree. After every gift is open, (you may need a chain saw to get Barbie out), the paper and boxes will be spread throughout the room. Then it’s clean up time. It is easy to put it all in a bag and toss it into the trash. But, all those boxes and paper can be recycled. Wonder how many trees it took to have all this paper?

When I was growing up we saved some of the gift wrap and boxes for the next year, if they weren’t torn. It was a way of saving money, because my parents worked hard for very little. Most of the wrapping was in mint condition after the gifts were unwrapped because my dad made a game out of it, “can you unwrap the present with out tearing the paper”. I would unwrap one gift per hour, very carefully. I had a great time doing it that way, made Christmas last all day. It was fun trying not to rip the paper. I still unwrap my gifts the same way. It drives my kids and fiancé crazy, but that makes it even more fun.

I don’t want to do it any differently now, it is a great memory I will have forever. We do have recycling bins and you can buy wrapping paper for a $1 but, I still save some paper and gift bags and reuse them. I can live with being called a tightwad, miser, cheap and crazy, but I am giving a little back by not wasting what I can recycle or reuse. I can’t say exactly, but I would think out of all my Christmases I have saved at least one tree, maybe more. No one will even notice the paper was reused after the gifts are all wrapped up.