This post may just be for men (most women have bought and wrapped all of their gifts by now since they are more responsible). I am proud of myself. I actually bought my wife’s presents before Christmas Eve. She is going to love them. Like most men, wrapping the present is more of a chore than a joyous task. I love my wife, so I tried to put a little effort into. Selfishly, I looked for ways to not bore myself with this task so I am gave my self a little challenge- “Find a way to wrap the present in a green manner.”
Growing up I remember using fruit boxes for shipping presents and the “Sunday funnies” to wrap the presents. I don’t think that we did this to be green as much as is was a cheaper alternative.
Inspired by my past influences from my family I sought out a hybrid solution. My journey of wrapping this present inspired the beginning to at least 3 more blog posts (I will get these out over the weekend). For now, I will stay on point and not get into the sustainable mission statements (or lack thereof) of the stores that I went to to complete the mission.
The first thing that I needed was a box to put the present in. Reusing a box is very green. You do not have to recycle it because it is going to get reused! While I was at target I asked if they had one that I could reuse. Since the do their “pack down” at night all of the boxes were already compressed and ready to be recycled.
I know that grocery stores always have boxes since they have produce that is constantly going out during the day. I needed some more green team, so I went to Publix to get a box. The store manager said that I can have one of their produce boxes.
Note: I have separated the pictures from the words. Men like pictures. I have following with step by step directions for those who need words (and a little humor).
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Step 4
Step 5
Step 6
Step 1. One of the associates had just emptied out this apple box and let me have it.
Step 2. The box worked as my grocery basket and I used it as my grocery bag instead of using plastic since I did not have my reusable back with me at the time.
Step 3. Even though my wife does not read my blog, I skipped a step. Not showing what is in this particular present is for now. Trust that I put something in this fruit box.
Step 4. Now I am taking 2 target bags that are already festive looking and double bagging it from both sides to mask the writing on the box.
Step 5. Now that the bags are one the box, I used a straw from by son’s drink to tie them off. It was a red straw that matched the bags perfectly. Now all I need to a card to address the present.
FYI- I did all of the wrapping outside and when I brought the present in, Sheila thought that it looked very nice. She could not even tell that I did not spend 1 cent of the packaging. Once I told her that I did she rolled her eyes, but still the initial impression was that of satisfaction. She asked me if the present was recycled also. I assured her that she will get to enjoy it’s first life cycle.
Step 6. The final step is to address the gift. I took the container from the food stand of the munchies that Anthony was eating out of and cut the sides off to make the label. Once it was cut, I folded it in half and taped it to the packaging. Again, this was from target and since everything in the store is red it matched the bags and the straw perfectly.
As you can seem it looks like a semiprofessional wrapped this present. All of reused packaging has consistent branding so it looks great underneath the tree.
In summary:
Cost of presents: (can’t disclose that yet)
Cost if wrapping: Zero dollars
Seeing Sheila’s face when she opens up the present:
Priceless
Alternative title for post: “How to wrap a present like a redneck”- However the packaging must come from Walmart and not Target. Ho Ho Ho
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Filed Under : Design/ Build Solutions by Greenlanta
Aug.17,2010
Can’t quite envision what your project is going to look like? There are many different tools out there that go beyond the 2D architecture plans that can help you get a better idea about what you project is going to look like. Here is a computer generated rendering of a kitchen that our renovation team is are working on that was product of the cabinet design software. While it is not perfect, it does help give a sense of what the final product is going to look like and does not take a lot of time to generate.
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Our very own architect – Jimmy Carrion had one of his projects featured in Sarah Susanka’s latest book 
