10 More Reuse Ideas for Food Packaging

9. Give gifts in a cereal box

Reuse Idea #9: Use your old cereal boxes as zero-waste gift wrap. Photo: Flickr/georigami

Cut out packaging waste and holiday waste in one fell swoop by transforming your old cereal boxes into festive (and surprisingly classy) gift wrap. All you’ll need is the box of your choice, a hot glue gun and some folding skills!

Check out this quick and easy tutorial from Instructables, and wrap your next birthday, baby shower or wedding gift in less than 10 minutes. Don’t worry. No one would ever guess the wrapping is made from trash!

For an even more festive design, check out this jazzed-up box from Mom Colored Glasses, or this spunky gift bag from Little Miss Makes-a-Lot.

Wrap More, Waste Less: Guide to Greener Gift Wrapping

10. Decorate with recyclables

Use glass jars in varying sizes (think: small baby food jars, medium-sized salsa jars and large tomato sauce jars) as elegant candle-holders for your next backyard barbeque or dinner party. Just fill each jar with about 1/2 inch of sand or small potting pebbles, and place a tea light or candle inside.

Or try filling your glass jars with about two inches of water, and adding a few drops of food coloring and a floating votive. Choose different shades of food coloring for a funky look.

And for backyard parties, you can never go wrong with a tin can lantern! Just carefully use a hammer and nail to poke out holes in your can, and create a pretty design for candlelight to flicker through. For step-by-step instructions, check out this tutorial from eHow.

More Party Tips: How to Plan a Waste-Free BBQ

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