Beyond the Half-Used Roll: Honiton’s Smarter Christmas Wrapping Routine

Every home has one. The wrapping paper drawer. It is usually in the spare room, under the bed or in the cupboard where the ironing board lives. Inside are three half-used rolls, a crumpled sheet of tissue paper, a few gift bags that have done the rounds since 2019, and one shiny gold roll that seemed like a good idea at the time.

This is not a moral failing. Keeping wrapping paper is thrifty. But sometime before the Christmas tree goes up, it is worth opening that drawer and having a proper look. Not a grand clear-out. Just a quiet twenty minutes with a cup of tea and a bin bag.

The three-pile sort-out

Empty the drawer and make three piles: reuse, recycle and bin. The reuse pile is the easy one. Gift bags with intact handles, flattened paper in good condition, ribbons, tags and tissue can all go another round. Smooth paper can be folded and stored flat; a low iron on the reverse side can sometimes coax out creases, though do test a corner first.

The recycle pile needs a little care. A simple test is to scrunch the paper. If it stays scrunched in a ball, it is likely ordinary paper and can usually go in your kerbside recycling. If it springs back or feels plasticky, it probably contains foil, plastic or a heavy laminate and should not go in with normal paper recycling.

Check the latest guidance from your local council before putting anything out. Recycling rules vary, and East Devon’s kerbside advice is the one that matters for Honiton households. When in doubt, leave it out — contaminated recycling does more harm than good.

The shiny paper problem

Those glossy, metallic and glitter-covered papers are the ones that cause the most confusion. They look festive, but many cannot be recycled in ordinary household collections. Glitter is especially difficult because the tiny particles cannot be separated from the paper. Foil-backed wraps and heavy laminated sheets fall into the same awkward category.

That does not mean you have to bin every shiny roll on sight. If it is still usable, reuse it. Cut it down for smaller gifts, use it for craft projects, or keep it for a present that really needs a bit of sparkle. But think twice before buying more of it this year.

Reuse ideas that do not look mean

Reusing wrapping paper is not about handing over a crumpled parcel held together with hope. A little care makes all the difference.

• Flatten saved paper under a heavy book for a few days before using it.
• Cut around torn edges and use the clean sections for small gifts.
• Save nice tags and ribbons from incoming presents and keep them in a small tin.
• Use gift bags for awkward shapes; they can be reused for years.
• Try fabric wraps for family presents — a scarf, tea towel or piece of festive fabric can become part of the gift.
• Keep children’s artwork and old maps for quirky, one-off wrapping.
• Use paper tape rather than plastic tape where you can; it makes reuse and recycling much easier.

A neatly folded parcel in reused paper often looks more thoughtful than a hastily wrapped one in something shiny. The point is not to be perfect. The point is to use what you have before buying more.

Buying better in 2026

When you do need to buy wrapping paper, buy with a little more thought. Plain kraft paper is a good honest choice. Look for recycled content and FSC-certified paper where possible. Avoid glitter, heavy foil and metallic finishes if you want the paper to be recyclable. Paper tape, string and simple tags will see you through most presents.

And buy the right amount. A multipack of six rolls may seem like good value, but if two rolls are glitter-covered and one is the wrong size, it is not a bargain. Think about the presents you actually have to wrap. A couple of good rolls, a pack of gift bags and a ball of string will usually cover a family Christmas.

This is where a local paper shop earns its keep. You can ask what the paper is made of, whether it is recyclable, and whether there is a paper tape to go with it. You are not faced with a wall of identical multipacks and a vague sense that one of them might be the right one. Staff who know the stock can point you towards the plain roll that will actually do the job, rather than the shiny one that will sit in the drawer until next year.

A simple wrapping station

Set up a small wrapping box before December gets busy. Scissors, paper tape, a pen, a few tags, string, and the reuse pile from your drawer sort-out. Keep it somewhere easy to reach, and put the half-used rolls in there too, standing upright so you can see what you have.

It sounds fussy, but it saves the familiar December scramble: the hunt for tape, the discovery that the only paper left is a crumpled sheet of reindeer print, the last-minute dash to the shop. A little preparation in November makes the whole thing calmer.

Christmas wrapping is not really about paper. It is about the small ritual of choosing, folding, labelling and giving. Doing that with paper you have chosen carefully — and reused where you can — feels a bit more like the Christmas we actually want. And if you need a hand choosing the right roll this year, the paper shop on the high street is a good place to start.