Posts Tagged ‘reusable fabric gift bags’

Christmas Season Gift-Giving Reflections

Saturday, February 6th, 2010

Every year during the Christmas season I have the same mantra…”I’m not going to be wrapping presents on Christmas Eve.  I will have it done by then.”   Not surprisingly, I once again found myself wrapping some gifts on Christmas Eve; although fewer.   What this last minute gift wrapping did offer me was the time to reflect on why Debora and I started the business, and the motivation to continue Ecorations into 2010.

The holidays should be a time with family and friends… sharing stories, traditions and laughter.  Wouldn’t it be nice just to have a couple of extra hours to be with those you care about?   I found those couple extra hours this year by using our eco-friendly Ecorations Fabric Gift Wraps and Gift Bags.   If nothing else, it saved time.   I didn’t have to buy wrapping paper (as I used to each year).   I didn’t have to hunt down the tape and scissors.   I didn’t have to cut, fold, tape, every…single…gift.   I picked a bag that worked, put the gift in and DONE!

Ecorations Christmas "Mixed Bag" Wrapping Kit

Ecorations Christmas "Mixed Bag" Wrapping Kit saves 40% off of retail prices. Select Christmas or "Everyday" fabrics.

Now the one “good” problem I did have was that we sold out of nearly all of our Christmas bags this year.   I ended up using what I had around the house in other fun fabrics, and nobody even gave it a second thought.   The gifts were all colorful and beautifully wrapped.

Now, that is just one reason why we started the business, making wrapping easy.   The other reason was to help reduce the use of paper gift wrap.  This year, my family of seven celebrating Christmas could put all of the paper wrap in one paper grocery bag – that’s it!   Years past, we use to fill several large garbage bags full of paper.   If every family could adopt this new “green” tradition, our world-wide contribution to the landfills would diminish significantly.   I also can’t say enough about the ease of cleaning up.   We simply collected the bags, put them in a bin, and they are ready to go for the next occasion.

Thank you to all of our customers that brought Ecorations Fabric Gift Bags and Wraps into their homes this holiday season.   We know they will be a part of your family holiday tradition for years.   But don’t forget, we do offer gift bags and gift wraps for everyday gift giving as well!

Kathy de Jong, President and co-founder, Ecorations

I’ll leave you with the words of one of our customers, Jodi from Westfield, NJ.

The Joy of Ecorations Fabric Gift Bags and Wraps

Jodi's Christmas with Ecorations Christmas Gift Bags in Reversible "Candy Cane" Fabric Collection

“The bags worked out perfectly, and I was in bed at a reasonable hour instead of spending half the night wrapping.  I thought the bags looked great under the tree and my two daughters (4 yrs and 2 yrs) were so excited to see the gift bags on Christmas morning.  They understood right away that Santa used the candy cane stripe for my older daughter and the reverse print for my younger daughter.  It was a really nice tradition to start.  The quality of the bags are perfect.  I know they will last for years to come.”

Back to basics

Thursday, July 30th, 2009

We are living in interesting times.  With the onset of the economic downturn, it seems like we are going back to doing things “the old fashioned way”.  I recently had a baby and more than ever, doctors, nurses etc. are encouraging breastfeeding – the rationale now includes economics.  Not only is it good for your baby, they say, but it saves you money! 

Now take the green movement; yes, of course it is great for the environment for everyone to reuse and recycle as much as possible, but today, another key motivator is the economics.  Reusing and even recycling can save money.  The number of green products and greening tips that we find today is amazing, but if you really think about many of them, they are just newer versions or twist on things our parents or grandparents grew up with.  So we’re really going back to basics – I find it quite interesting and think there may be wealth of new products, innovations, and traditions that we can incorporate into our lives today, by simply looking back at the way things were…

What are some those “basics” you think we could adapt today that make economic as well as environmental sense?

I’ll get us started…the obvious one is fabric gift wrap – using fabric to wrap gifts and then reusing the fabric for something else or to regift.  There’s my plug for Ecorations.  Another thing that I’m now doing is using less disposable paper towels and instead using cloth kitchen towels.  Growing up, we hardly ever used paper and I know my mother never did.  My daughter is now requesting her special towel to dry her hands.

Debora

Every little bit counts when it comes to change.

Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009

It was sad to read yesterday’s Ideal Bite “The Coast Is Clear“.  It  talks about our polluted beaches and how you might want to check their ratings before planning a trip.  I love the beach and the peace and tranquility it brings me when I visit.  It really is a shame to think that we, as a collective society, have managed to damage this immense portion of our planet. 

Now for the good news.  It didn’t take just one person with one action to get to where we are.  It took a lot of little things from a lot of people to make such an impact.  The impact can be a positive one instead of a negative one if we set our minds to doing a little bit each day and encouraging others to do the same.  This way it’s not a daunting task on anyone.

The article makes a suggestion to  help reverse some of the damage to our beaches – make sure that garbage goes into a contained bin so it won’t find it’s way from the sand to the water - now how easy is that?  There are so many little (and easy) things we can all do.    

Going back to Kathy’s shades of green, I’m probably a light green person myself.  I may aspire to be more green, but for now, I’m OK with light green.  I try to do at least one or two little things everyday that can make a difference, like recycling and using less paper towels and napkins.  That’s why I love what we’re trying to do with our reusable fabric gift bags.  It is a creative gift wrapping idea that can have a huge impact if it catches on and more people give up paper wrap, bags & bows. 

I’m sure you have seen list after list of the top 10 things you can do to be more “green”.  We’d love to hear it from you – what kinds of things are you doing to be kinder and gentler to mother earth?  

Debora