Gigantic Tips for Jolly, Waste-Free Holidays
POSTED ON December 18th, 2025 BY The Gigantic Team
The holidays are here, but that doesn’t have to mean more stuff in the garbage! Gigantic team members give their tips for waste-free wrapping, food, decoration and gifts…a grand tradition! (pictured: our holiday party with no-waste gifts)
Peter: Inevitably, we end up with boxes and gift bags throughout the year. Some of them are not holiday-themed, but are easily repurposed as such. This saves us from throwing away loads of gift-wrapping paper (often “wish cycled” into the recycling bin), and saves both money and time. Many can be stored within other boxes to cut down on space. Perhaps most importantly — it spares my gift recipients from my attempts to neatly wrap a gift that inevitably leaves something to be desired! Here is an assortment we use (and re-use annually):
Melanie: This year my family and I are focusing on a couple of simple choices that make the holidays a little kinder to the planet: I’m making an entirely plant-based menu with sun-dried tomato lentil loaf, cauliflower mashed potatoes, maple Dijon green beans, sourdough bread, and iced gingerbread bars. Plant-based meals have a smaller environmental footprint and are delicious.
Myer: One of our favorite family traditions is skipping the store-bought gift wrap and repurposing old boxes instead. It’s a hilarious way to prank each other—we love hiding exciting gifts like clothes, gift cards, and toys inside packaging for things we know the recipient won’t want. It’s especially fun with the kids in our family. They start with a disappointed face when they are handed a ‘brand new crock pot’ box, then it turns into excitement when they find what’s actually inside, like a video game.
Stef: When my sister and I were little, we were excited about gifts, but even more so about the annual return of my toy shop and my sister’s doll house with full kitchen. Just before Christmas eve, the “Christkind” (German Santa equivalent) would bring them down from the attic heavens, make the doll house sparkle and replenish my toy shop with marzipan “hams”, chocolate “bread loaves” and other goods for sale. We played with these toys for hours—probably because we knew they’d disappear as soon as the holiday tree was taken down. In retrospect I think it was a great way to make the holiday season special for us kids without the need for loads of new toys every year.
Laura-Lee: For the last few years, my brother-in-law and I have been tasked with putting up the holiday decorations. Since we are usually in Sedona for Christmas, we have been able to scavenge fallen foliage from outside the house to use as our Christmas “tree”. The actual decorating with recycled, and sometimes natural, ornaments is often a gift in itself, as there is usually a lot of laughter. Once the holiday is over, we are able to box the decorations for next year and more importantly, return the scavenged foliage to Mother Nature.
Ja`ire: Tradition: Make leftovers part of the plan! At the end of the night of our holiday gathering, we set out reusable containers and invite guests to take food home. It reduces food waste, saves money, and extends the joy of the gathering beyond the day itself. I’ve found it also creates a really cozy, communal moment; people leave feeling cared for rather than rushed or overfull.
Nancy: I’m afraid we don’t do trees or even presents, but every year I make some kind of holiday wreath from whatever I find in the garden…juniper branches, stems of rosemary and lavender, and the red berries of cotoneaster, gussied up with an ornament or two, to celebrate the Solstice and make the house smell good. Oh, and homemade cookies. Lots of cookies…never wasted.
Lisa: Make memories, not waste! We like to give gifts of experience, like restaurant gift cards for a memorable meal, or travel gift cards for hotels or airlines for an upcoming trip. For more immediate fun, we also give food and beverage gifts in recyclable packaging, like a good bottle of wine, artisanal spirits or cookies in tins.
Mark: As an avid baker, I cannot resist the temptation to turn leftover turkey into a pastry treat — turkey pot pie! Nothing like a flaky crust to keep people devouring that bird. Every year, a good friend (who typically dines out on Thanksgiving) visits during the weekend to help in the preparation — and benefit from getting to take home a mini pie or two for quick and delicious winter meals. The pies are assembled in reusable pie tins. This too guarantees that they get returned the following year for a free refill.
Kas: Now that’s a wrap! I learned this from John, my partner’s dad and a former elementary school teacher. John loves wrapping gifts in kids’ artwork and drawings from the year—or even pages from his old paper calendars. I’ve happily taken up this tradition and now repurpose pages from my own free calendars, usually featuring animal-themed photos. Bonus points for cutting old greeting cards into gift tags.
# # #