Inspired Living | Caroline Creates
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You know how it goes: holiday gifts, parties, traveling more gifts and parties... the abundance of the holiday season can find many of us struggling to keep our sustainable practices in tact. It can sometimes feel pretty tricky to cut back on waste when you only seem to be creating more of it! That is why we are so happy to come across businesses like Caroline Creates an eco-friendly stationary company run by the sweet and wonderful Caroline Hull who creates beautifully designed paper products including recycled holiday wrapping paper (phew) to help us sleep better at night.
We caught up with Caroline to ask her about her ethos behind the business and for some much appreciated tips on how to reduce waste during the holidays.
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Caroline, on her company's motto, "Green without the granola":
So Green Without All the Granola came from me trying to find eco-friendly stationery that was "green" but still modern and trendy. It kind of became a joke that I made about myself. I was green but not what people typically think of when they think of someone who is "earthy" or "granola-y". I really feel there is this movement where being eco-friendly is becoming trendy and not so unapproachable to someone with modern style and sensibilities. You won't find specks of recycled bits in my paper! It's clean, crisp, recycled, modern and stylish!
Caroline's tips on reducing waste during the holidays:
- My biggest tip is to recycle and use recycled materials! Be sure to recycle gift wrap, cards and boxes you receive instead of throwing them in the trash. For gift wrap, I save and reuse boxes, tissue paper, gift wrap . . . everything! In fact, I designed my recycled gift wrap to be reusable. The kraft paper is very sturdy and can easily be used more than once.
- Give gifts that aren't disposable. You will find me making most of my gifts this year and putting them in glass jars and containers that can be repurposed down the road.
- Donate your kids toys they don't play with anymore to children in need. We are purging this year at our house to make way for the presents that are coming my kid's way but to also prevent unnecessary dust gathering in the play room.
- Research responsible Christmas tree recycling and harvesting. There are lots of "green" options for obtaining Christmas trees and disposing of them. Make sure you check before you chunk it in the garbage! There are places that will create mulch with your tree for either you to use or to use to grow more trees!
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