About Gift Wrap

Gift wrap is the material used to enclose gifts in a decorative way. Gift wrap, at least in western cultures, is typically thought of as being made of paper. In some cultures, however, gift wrap can be made with reusable fabric that can be tied and fastened around a gift. Gift wrap is mostly used for decorative purposes. Over time, it has become tradition to conceal the contents of a gift with wrap to add an element of excitement and surprise to gift giving.

Benefits

The benefits of gift wrap range from the purely symbolic to the purely aesthetic. In the symbolic sense, it symbolizes the care and consideration the gift giver took into account when purchasing and later decoratively wrapping the gift for the receiver. In the aesthetic sense, gift wrapping a gift adds a beautiful and personalized touch. When wrapped in festive wrap or wrapped in a large ribbon, a gift can suddenly become a piece of art, not just packaging material.

Risk Factors

The winter holidays are the time in which the most gift wrap is used. This gift wrap, while beautiful while enclosing the gift, is almost immediately discarded after the package is open. If you combine this wrapping paper with the ribbons and bows that are often used to give decorative purpose to the gift, this leads to a lot of paper waste (about 4 million tons) that will later take up unnecessary space in a landfill. Environmentalists encourage the use of fabric or recycled materials to wrap gifts to cut back on waste over the holidays.

Features

Gift wrap is usually purchased from department stores and drug stores, especially for the use on birthdays and other holidays. The paper purchased is often representative of the holiday that the gift is being given for. However, all-purpose and non-specific gift wrap can be purchased as well. The gift wrap is traditionally sold on long cardboard rolls, but it can also be sold folded and wrapped in cellophane. Much gift wrap has a glossy finish, making it difficult to later recycle.

Evolution

Along with traditional wrapping paper, it is now commonplace to wrap gifts in bags. These bags contribute to the 4 million tons of waste created over the winter holidays. It is also common now to wrap gifts in reusable fabric, newspaper which can be easily recycled, or out of recycled materials. In Japanese culture, there is resurgence in the use of the traditional cloth gift wrap called "furoshiki." This not only has a traditional purpose, but it is being used as a more eco-friendly option as well.

Significance

Gift wrap functions as a decorative and meaningful way to present a gift. Instead of just offering a gift to a receiver, the giver can instead personalize a gift with wrap representative of the person's taste or the holiday the gift is intended for. Often, the wrap the gift comes in can be just as important to the giver and receiver as the gift itself. Sometimes, a gift can be wrapped in yet another gift like a terra cotta planter or a basket, both of which can be additional gifts for the receiver.