Climate killer wrapping paper?

8,000 tons of wrapping paper are used in Germany every year. That's equivalent (hold on!) to the weight of the Eiffel Tower.

But how bad is wrapping paper really and what are the alternatives?

The production of paper requires a lot of wood and is energy-intensive. A ton of new paper requires as much energy as a ton of steel. Paper consumption has increased extremely, especially in Germany.

For comparison: Statistically, in 1991 every German citizen consumed 70 kg per year, meanwhile it is 243 kg. It takes 50 liters of water and five kilowatt hours of energy to produce just 1 kg of paper. Based on the current consumption, it is now 12,150 liters of water and 1,215 kilowatt hours of energy.

And not only that:

In addition, wrapping paper pollutes the environment with nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxides and other chemicals that have to be treated with pulp fibers. And the following applies: the more complex the wrapping paper, the more environmentally harmful it is! Because plastic or metal foils and coated papers are difficult to recycle.

That's why they don't belong in the paper bin, but in the residual waste.

But there is also good news:

According to a survey, every second person would do without packaging at Christmas for reasons of sustainability.

what can you change

Use recycled paper! The production costs only half as much energy and uses only a third of the amount of water. Particularly environmentally friendly wrapping paper is marked with the “Blue Angel” environmental seal. This ensures that only waste paper fibers are used in the manufacture.

But beware! The stamp "chlorine-free bleached" means, for example, that no waste paper is included.

You can also simply use old newspaper, which would otherwise have ended up in the trash anyway, or you can buy good gift boxes that are resold after the gift is given and that last a long time.

Our tip:

Have you ever heard of gift towels? You can easily make these yourself from old T-shirts or scarves and, above all, use them again and again. Newspaper, old wrapping paper or neutral gift bags also offer a great way to wrap gifts. Or even better: Our gift boxes! They last forever, are completely plastic-free and look chic.

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