For many, it won't feel like Christmas until you've started wrapping gifts. The amount of wrapping paper estimated to be thrown away in the UK at Christmas could stretch to the moon if each sheet was laid end to end. Fortunately there are lots of different ways you can reduce waste, just by being a bit more inventive with your decorations and wrappings.

These days, a lot of Christmas wrapping papers are foil based, meaning that they can't easily be recycled. You should aim to reuse these instead, or better still, try to use something that can be recycled. Old newspapers can be made into gift bags, or just used as flat sheets for wrapping. Decorate with a bow, home made from an old magazine page.

If you really want to impress, how about trying a 'Furoshiki' wrap? Furoshiki is a type of traditional Japanese wrapping cloth originally used by merchants to transport clothing and other goods. It's a great substitute for paper or gift-bags and can be reused again and again. All you need is a suitably-sized square of fabric - you don't even need sellotape or string as it's all secured by tying a knot. There are a variety of different methods depending on what you are wrapping, all of which are very simple and great to look at.

Furoshiki wraps (external link)

Recycle your old Christmas cards into baubles (external link)

Make a gift bow from a magazine page (external link)

Recycle your old magazines into a useful item (external link)

Turn newspaper into a giftbag (PDF, 56KB) provided by www.greengreengrocer.co.uk