Tips To Keep Your Gift Wrap From Going Up in Flames

From the Bay Area Clean Water Agencies, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District and the Bay Area Stormwater Management Agencies Association.

San Francisco — Bay Area environmental agencies are joining forces in asking residents to keep the holidays green this season by using eco-friendly gift-wrapping alternatives.  

Wrapping paper creates tons of waste every year and, when burned, produces toxic smoke and fumes which pollute the air and water.

That’s why the Bay Area Clean Water Agencies (BACWA), the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (Air District), and the Bay Area Stormwater Management Agencies Association (BASMAA) have come together to remind people to be extra mindful this holiday season when wrapping and unwrapping gifts.

“It may seem innocuous, but holiday gift wrap can create serious environmental and health impacts when burned,” says Geoff Brosseau, executive director of BASMAA. “And one of the worst culprits is foil-based wrapping paper because it can’t be recycled.  Its smoke contains dioxin and metals that are toxic. It goes up in the air and then falls on the land and washes into the waterway as soot.”

Wrapping paper is often printed with heavy inks, metallic embellishments or made from metallic materials and, as a result, is not easily recyclable. In addition, because wrapping paper, boxes and other wrapping materials like ribbons are considered trash, it is always illegal to burn these items.  

Burning these items will create smoke and soot with dioxin and other harmful toxins that can affect the health of people, animals and aquatic life – both inside and outside the home.

“Smoke from burning gift wrap, ribbons, bows and other trash is harmful because it builds up inside the home and around neighborhoods, making breathing difficult for many,” said Jack Broadbent, Executive Officer of the Bay Area Air Quality Management District.  “Burning gift wrap can cause breathing problems for kids, pets and people with respiratory issues like asthma.”

In 2008, the Air District passed a regulation that prohibits wood burning on days when a Winter Spare the Air Alert has been called. When an alert is in effect, it is illegal for Bay Area residents and businesses to use their fireplaces, woodstoves and inserts, pellet stoves, outdoor fire pits, or any other wood-burning devices.

“The most effective way to reduce waste and landfill build-up is to use less wrapping paper overall and rely more on creative wrapping and reusable options,” said Executive Director Gary Wolff, P.E., Ph.D. of StopWaste.Org.  “If you must use wrapping paper, use non-foil-based paper and recycle paper from the gifts you receive, rather than burn.” 

Some alternatives to traditional wrapping paper:

• Reusable gift bags: save bags you’ve received and pass them along to someone new
• Newspaper comics: give the outside of the gift a chuckle – and they are fully recyclable, too!
• Grocery / Shopping bags: decorate with colorful stamps and wrap with re-usable bows and flowers
• Holiday tins: fill with festive holiday treats
• Cloth napkins or scarves: place your gift in a holiday scarf or napkin and use a re-usable ribbon to hold it together
• Baskets: place your gift in a basket and decorate with fabric ribbon

To learn more, visit BayWise.org.  To check before you burn call 1-877-4NO BURN.  To sign up for Winter Spare the Air Alerts, visit www.SpareTheAir.org ; or “like” Spare the Air on Facebook.