Sustainable Gifting: Upcycle, Hand-Make & Get Creative with Zero-waste Presents & Packages by Michelle Mackintosh
Environmentally-conscious living is admirable, but I have become cynical about the use of terms like “sustainability” and “zero-waste” in popular culture. Frequently, they are employed to market a particular aesthetic of products or services instead of referring to solutions that truly address the underlying problems. This book reads like “sustainability-lite” – meant to be inspirational rather than instructional. At its core, there are essentially three main “sustainability” suggestions:
- Handmake your gifts
- Gift food or consumables
- Use recycled items for packaging
There are a few interesting ideas and the tone is of someone trying to convince you that being environmentally friendly can still be fun and aesthetically pleasing. The strength of this book lies in its colourful, chaotic layout; the photos are dotted with comments and tips in cute speech bubbles and overlay notes. The visual style is playful but a bit childish at times. It’s an over-call to say that the projects are zero-waste though, considering how many of them call for materials that most people would have to go out and buy (washi tape is not ubiquitous no matter how much crafters would like to think it is).
Out of all the projects, only a handful of suggestions appealed to me:
- Using origami figures as embellishments for gift wrapping
- Using old maps as wrapping paper
- Making “Bon bons” (ie. Christmas crackers) for multiple occasions (pg. 20-21)
- Upcycling jeans to make a denim bag (pg. 42-43)
Overall, this book is worth flipping through if you like Pinterest and also the general idea of being sustainable but are not looking for serious suggestions for a lifestyle change. Borrow it from your local library if its available but I probably wouldn’t buy it for a constant reference.