Just One Thing: Green Your Gift Wrapping With Scarves!
Make your holiday wrappings more eco-friendly with a Korean tradition.
Dec. 22, 2009 — -- Along with all the gifts given this holiday season comes a ton of wrapping paper.
According to the Clean Air Council, an extra four million tons of waste is generated every year in the U.S. during the holiday season just from wrapping paper and shopping bags alone!
To combat that problem, Patricia Lee is working to spread a tradition passed down in Korean families -- wrapping with scarves.
Lee, who has written a book called "The Wrapping Scarf Revolution," learned the practice, called Bojagi, from her grandmother and great-grandmother.
In Lee's native Korea, waste is considered bad luck and the art of Bojagi dates back to the 11th century as a way for women to make use of leftover fabric from making clothes. It was also traditionally used to wrap a gift from a groom's family to a bride's family.
Lee says Bojagi is about reducing waste while still celebrating beauty and fine things.
She suggests using any old scarf lying around your home, or pick them up for pennies at a thrift shop.
For small gifts:
Use a 20-22 inches square-size bandanna
For all-purpose wrapping:
Use a 27-30 inch scarf
CLICK HERE for more information from Lee's Web site, bobowrap.com.
