Going Green With The Wrapping

[Henry]

We always used to kid my mother-in-law, who used to save all the undamaged wrapping paper she could at Christmas, always being very careful when unwrapping her own presents to save as much as she could.  Saw on one of the TV stations where using recycled material is all the rage this year.

Since my mother-in-law passed away, my son-in-law, each year has taken all of the gift bags and folded them up neatly, placing the smaller ones inside the larger ones.  They then bring them down cellar.  In the past when Maryann would sit at the kitchen table doing the wrapping, we only used the used ones when we did not have any new ones.  This year, I did not buy any new ones, so except for the few I wrapped with Christmas Paper before I decided to used the recycled bags, it certainly will be a green Christmas inside and hopefully a White Christmas outside.

[Suzy]

Henry,

I get that sort of ribbing also.  One of the first things I get excited about, when getting a present is if I can reuse the wrapping paper!  I too, open carefully, and must have inherited this gift from my mother.  I am sure she learned this from her mother too, who was never one to waste a paper bag, or piece of string if it was useful.  I am pretty sure that I will get a gift from my mother this year, wrapped in the same paper I sent her something wrapped in for last Christmas, and just seeing the familiar paper being reused will bring me great joy!  (I also like to give/receive gifts wrapped in the Sunday comics from the newspaper, and old maps.) 

Interestingly enough, I don't think my family ever did this for ecological reasons (yes, Trevor, we had Onion River Coop meetings at my house, and granola was delivered in bulk to our porch on Hunt Street growing up) but the origins of our need to reuse things came from an era when it was practical to save and reuse items.  It must have helped financially as well. 

Thanks for sharing your holiday memories, and traditions, Henry! 
Sooz

[Dick Brown]

Suzy         About three years ago on my birthday , I received a package via Fed-Ex from Jeff . Excitedly I opened it up to find about 100 pieces of rope & string about 4-6 " long
with a note from him saying something to the effect that he wanted to make sure that my supply didn't run out !!! Plus when I retired , one gift from teachers at school ( Dave Clark & Kevin Hebert I suspect ) was a stapled pack of 8 1/2" by 11 "papers torn into quarters , in case I wanted to continue leaving notes for people. My frugal mannerisms came from growing up poor I guess , but as I'm sure you and Henry would agree , it usually pays off in the long run !!!  Merry Christmas to you in Wyoming and to you in Vermont , Henry.  I head out driving to Chicago tomorrow and am hoping for good weather. 

[Rev. Elizabeth]

It took me a long time to finally dispose of an ancient cardboard box which contained a variety of designs and sizes of carefully folded wrapping paper which my mother saved to reuse for another present at another Christmas.  The box and paper could have gone to the Smithsonian.....

[Judi]

A Christmas memory you brought to mind:
Since the 1960's my parents, brothers and sisters and I exchanged gifts in "the Christmas box".  It is a white shirt box which has everyone's signature and date on it that received the box the year before and sent it forward the next year with a new gift inside for some other family member.  This tradition ended Christmas of 2008, the year my Mother died and the box is now retired as a cherished family heirloom with every nook and cranny filled with signatures, dates and funny notes.  The box has brown marks from old scotch tape and is barely together now.  It was a cherished memory among us six children that we enjoyed into our adulthood.  This year we are starting a new box for the nieces, nephews and grandchildren.  Merry Christmas everyone!

[slpott]

This reminds me of the 3 birthday cards my brother-in-law and I have exchanged for 15 or so years. Now the older we get it is a challenge to find them every year. We just add the year and mail them on. It is a lot of fun and for the price of cards, we have saved a lot.