by Jessica Miller (Emery Street) | This column provides tips on reducing waste while saving money.

Most gift wrap cannot be recycled with paper, as it often contains shiny material or different types of paper mixed together. It really pains me to carefully wrap presents in paper just so it can be thrown away later. Instead, I now wrap my presents in recyclable paper such as brown bags, tissue paper, or newspaper. If I were a seamstress, I think I would also use discarded fabric. In addition I keep every gift bag that I receive to be reused later. With gift bags, I don’t even need to wrap presents at all, thus saving time. And instead of bows, I use actual ribbon, which is so much prettier and can be reused for much longer, even in your hair!