If orange is the new pink and 40 is the new 30 then Reduce Reuse Recycle must be the new 3Rs.
This Christmas incorporate those new Rs into your gift giving.
Reduce the amount of wrapping paper waste by using reusable bags to "wrap" presents with making the bag part of the present.
(Suggested reusable bag retailers; buygreen.com, reusablebags.com, Envirosax, handmade bags by Sara)
Reuse gift bags, boxes, and bows from Christmas past
We have a rule in our family; the one who hosts Christmas gets to keep all the bows and bags. I don’t remember the last time I bought bows, bags, boxes, or tissue paper.
I save any kind of gift bag that I get throughout the year (especially birthday bags) and reuse those too!
Recycle: Make your own wrapping paper
Every year I save the Christmas card pictures and whenever my kids get bored I pull out the pictures and let them paste them onto paper. They also like to add stickers and color the paper too. It keeps them entertained and gives us all the wrapping paper we need.
I have also started doing this with calendar pictures and using that paper for birthday presents. (This is a big hit with Grandparents)
Recycle: Choose eco-friendly wrapping paper made from 100% post consumer recycled content 
(Suggested retailers: Earth love’n paper products, Sweet organics and naturals, Crinkle Co)
Do you have a creative green way to wrap presents? Share it with us via the comment section.
You can read reviews of many green products, including Earth Love'n wrapping paper, at Lena's blog; Over Coffee – the green edition.
Snowflake wrapping paper picture from EarthLoven.com.
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Have you ever seen the Japanese art of furoshiki? In Japan, the wrapping is beautiful and is part of the present (I think there are even different styles/patterns for wrapping for different occasions). Furoshiki uses cloth as the wrapping material, which of course is then re-used.
No I haven't but it sounds fun. Last night I learned of a company that sells Zen wraps. I wonder if it is based on the art of furoshiki? Thanks for the comment Jennifer.
It's funny. 15 years ago I only got to keep the bows and gift bags that I received presents in. Everyone held onto them and reused them the next year. About 5 years ago that changed. My aunts and cousins claimed that it was too much of a pain to store them. I quickly went trash bag diving and claimed it all for myself.
If you take a few minutes right away storage is not a problem. Just fold the bags up, lay them on top of one another and then store them in the largest gift bag you can find. I've only had to buy a few new ones each year as the old ones start to wear out.
Thank you for such a wonderful idea! Well, it isn't really something you mentioned specifically but it definitely got the juices flowing. This year when I go shopping the day after Christmas I'm going to include discounted Christmas fabric on my list. I'm going to make all different sizes of drawstring bags and keep them year to year. We'll use up the paper we've already purchased but I don't want to buy any more! I'll add more drawstring bags every year until we have enough and save them just like we do our gift bags – which, I agree, are NEVER too hard to save! What a GREAT idea.
Glad to hear that I got the idea juices flowing Sund! I’ve also learned of a few new ways to wrap gifts; like using scarves. I love the idea of wrapping a gift in a gift!
T with Honey: Glad to hear that I am not the only one that goes gift bag diving…
This year I set my kids to the gift packaging task, and they came up with some really cute and simple ideas. Bandanas, folders, origami boxes and mini-pinatas. Here they are if you would like to look at them:
http://www.se7en.org.za/2008/11/29/clearly-christmas-se7en-gift-packaging-ideas
this was not helpful I want't oyher ways to wrap with out foilding in corners