It's Christmas morning, and you and your family have just finished exchanging gifts. In the middle of the room is a huge pile of wrapping paper, cellophane and plastic packaging from the presents. 

The festive season produces a huge amount of plastic and non-recyclable waste that will inevitably end up sitting in a landfill. Most gift-wrapping paper contains some plastic to give it the bright sheen that people like to see under their Christmas trees, making it non-recyclable. But there are other, more eco-friendly, beautiful ways to wrap gifts that avoid creating unnecessary waste.

Tissue paper can be recycled in your yellow bin, or for a more rustic looking alternative, you can pick up a roll of recyclable brown paper very cheaply from anywhere that sells office or craft supplies. Brown paper can look great if you add some funky stamps and it also allows for a creative and personalised way of wrapping gifts.

Furoshiki is a traditional Japanese wrapping style that uses cloth or fabric instead of paper around the gifts. Wrapping with fabric is an environmentally friendly way to spice up your gifts and can be a really beautiful way of presenting them.

You can also repurpose items that you may already have at home. Children’s artwork, old maps, sheet music, calendar or book pages all make for great wrapping alternatives.

Try and save any ribbons or extra trimmings from gifts and reuse them for others. 

Zero-waste present wrapping may sound like a bit of a ‘faff’, but even small things contribute to a more sustainable Christmas; a great gift for the planet.