Video zone

Eco-friendly gift-wrapping ideas

Do you give your friends and family presents on special occasions? Watch this video to see
how you can wrap gifts in an eco-friendly way.

Tasks
Do the preparation task first. Then watch the video and do the exercise. Remember you can
read the transcript at any time.

Preparation task
Match the definitions (a–j) with the vocabulary (1–10).

Vocabulary Definition
1. …… fabric a. to join pieces of cloth together, using thread and a needle
2. …… to sew b. a long, narrow strip of material used to tie things or as decoration
3. …… a ribbon c. to give something to someone, who will then give it to others
4. …… sustainable d. cloth or material used for making clothes, bags and other items
5. …… to pass around e. a kind of strong string, made from a plant
6. …… tape f. causing little or no damage to the environment
7. …… hemp twine g. having lines or marks, where something has been folded
8. …… a stocking h. a strip of sticky material, often used to fix two things together
9. …… crumpled i. something special that you do or buy for someone
10. …… a treat j. a large sock that is filled with small presents, especially at
Christmas

Tasks

Task 1
Write a number (1–5) to put these ideas in the order they are mentioned.

A Japanese wrapping technique, furoshiki

Using paper and twine to wrap gifts

Putting little treats in a stocking

Different methods of making gift bags

Using tape, pictures and postcards

© 2019 British Council www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish

Task 2
Put the words in order to make sentences.

1. are family The cloth gift bags throughout recycled the years.
through the

2. save or twine to reuse. pieces You can of string

3. cool Newspapers make can wrapping paper. really

4. I reuse even if crumpled. definitely it’s paper, will

5. favourite eco-magazine. An easy way to is to use a present images,

decorate maybe from your

6. wrap without on how you can presents There are any tape.
tutorials online really cool

7. each other we put them We give wrapping them, tiny little treats
and instead of in a stocking.

8. and reused. recycled and can be that already exist a lot of things
I like using

Discussion
Do you like the ideas in the video? Which is your favourite? Do you have any gift-wrapping tips
of your own?

© 2019 British Council www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish

Transcript
Hi, everyone. Welcome to My Green Closet. So, today I’m going to share a few ideas for more
eco-friendly ways that you can wrap gifts.
So, my mother has actually been making cloth gift bags for as long as I can remember. We
have a bunch of different ones in different sizes, and they’ve been recycled through our family
throughout the years.
They’re really simple to make. This one is just sewn on three sides, and then has a ribbon sewn
to the outside so that you can tie it up. And it’s been really nice to see them get passed
around.
Another way you can make it is by using ribbons as a drawstring.
If you’d like something a bit more practical, you can also wrap gifts in reusable tote bags or
produce bags, like this one. This is a bag I made myself, just by sewing some fabric together
and adding a ribbon drawstring, and I just tied on a bit of greenery to give it some decoration.
I really like the look of rustic twine-wrapped presents. You can save pieces of string or twine
to reuse, or I also like to use hemp twine, which is really sustainable.
For wrapping paper, I’ll try to use any extra paper I have, or recycled paper like craft paper or
newsprint. Or newspapers can make really cool wrapping paper.
And because it’s a little plain, I like to tie it with twine and then add just a little piece of
greenery. It’s really simple but I think it looks nice.
Another more personal idea is to put a photo on it. Now, I will definitely reuse paper, even if
it’s crumpled, and I actually kind of like the crumpled look. I think it adds an interesting texture
and actually looks pretty nice.
I use paper tape but there are really cool tutorials online of how you can wrap presents
without any tape, and I will link one below. An easy way to decorate a present is to use any
images you have, maybe from your favourite eco-magazine, and just tape that on the top.
So, I decided to use this really beautiful flower illustration, and another thing that I like to do is
pick up art postcards at markets from local artists, which I either send to people or I can use
for decoration. And I’m just taping this on top but you could also tie it on, and again, I
personally really like the rustic look of the ripped and visible tape.
A really amazing way to wrap presents or all kinds of things is, I think it’s pronounced furoshiki,
and it’s a Japanese technique to wrap things, and there are so many different tutorials of it
online and really cool ways to tie fabric. So, you can use things like vintage scarves, tea
towels, napkins or any kind of fabric to do this.
My husband and I don’t really give each other gifts. We try to do something instead, but we
will give each other tiny little treats that we like, and instead of wrapping those, we just put
them in a stocking.
So, these are some of the ways that I like to wrap gifts for the holidays, keeping it really simple
and using a lot of things that already exist and can be recycled and reused. And I would love
to hear in the comments if you have any other ideas or how you wrap gifts sustainably. Thank
you for watching and thank you so much to those of you supporting me on Patreon, and I’ll
see you in the next one.

© 2019 British Council www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish

Answers

Preparation task
1. d
2. a
3. b
4. f
5. c
6. h
7. e
8. j
9. g
10. i

Task 1
1. Different methods of making gift bags
2. Using paper and twine to wrap gifts
3. Using tape, pictures and postcards
4. A Japanese wrapping technique, furoshiki
5. Putting little treats in a stocking

Task 2
1. The cloth gift bags are recycled through the family throughout the years.
2. You can save pieces of string or twine to reuse.
3. Newspapers can make really cool wrapping paper.
4. I will definitely reuse paper, even if it’s crumpled.
5. An easy way to decorate a present is to use images, maybe from your favourite eco-
magazine.
6. There are really cool tutorials online on how you can wrap presents without any tape.
7. We give each other tiny little treats and instead of wrapping them, we put them in a
stocking.
8. I like using a lot of things that already exist and can be recycled and reused.

© 2019 British Council www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish