Top Ten Ways to Use and Re-Use Recycled Gift Wraps…

Long gone are the days when eco-friendly was synonymous with tree-hugger and hippie. Today's new shade of "green" is hip and fashionable...some even say it's the new black. Bridging the gap between popular and fashionable culture and environmental responsibility is a critical part of supporting the environment and reversing the damage that has already been done to it. With couture clothing designers using organic fabrics and vegetable dyes, and luxury car companies producing hybrids, sacrificing quality and aesthetics are no longer part of the "green" equation. Even luxury paper products are going green!

Long gone are the days when eco-friendly was synonymous with tree-hugger and hippie. Today's new shade of "green" is hip and fashionable...some even say it's the new black. Bridging the gap between popular and fashionable culture and environmental responsibility is a critical part of supporting the environment and reversing the damage that has already been done to it. With couture clothing designers using organic fabrics and vegetable dyes, and luxury car companies producing hybrids, sacrificing quality and aesthetics are no longer part of the "green" equation. Even luxury paper products are going green!

One such company, Fish Lips Paper Designs, creates bold and modern graphics for a variety of paper products including gift wraps and note cards. All of their products are designed, printed and packaged in the USA on 100% recycled paper using soy & vegetable inks. The company uses the finest quality papers and insists you wouldn't know the products were "green" unless they told you. Given the lack of exciting design in paper and stationary products, and the undeniable need to practice sustainability, Fish Lips' owner and designer Kimi Chronis calls her products "Fashionably Responsible".

According to Chronis, "buying recycled paper products is a great start but it's not enough; what you do with that product after it has served its initial purpose is critical." In an effort to increase the life span of their products, Fish Lips Paper Designs suggests reusing their brightly colored, standout designs for a variety of things. Here are their TOP 10 ideas:

10. Framed art on your wall - Use a single pattern or combine multiple designs to create a larger wallscape.

9. Personalize your coffee cup - Grab a reusable coffee cup that allows you to change the insert...talk about a morning pick me up?!?!?!

8. Cover your books - Be the envy of your classmates or dress up an old coffee table book.

7. Give new life to an old piece of furniture - Cover a tabletop or the inside of a bookshelf...use one design all over for a
sophisticated look or smaller pieces in multiple designs for a real standout piece!

6. Make drawer liners - Your socks will thank you!

5. Picture frame matting - This looks especially great with a black and white photo.

4. Cover a boring bulletin board - Change them out every month (or when you get too many poked holes)...your "To-Do List" just got more exciting!

3. Shred it - Shred it or cut it up and use to protect packages instead of Styrofoam.

2. Scrapbooking - Cut them up and use them as pages in your scrapbook.

1. Wrap another gift - Use scraps as decorative accents on another gift in place of bows or ribbons!

You can see all of Fish Lips Paper Designs' currently available products on their website, www.fishlipspaperdesigns.com , and in a variety of retailers across the country. The next time you get (or give) a gift that is wrapped in a beautiful piece of paper, think of this list and find a way to give it a chic new purpose