I was on Reddit before Christmas and saw an interesting post about Furoshiki. Furoshiki is a Japanese tradition of wrapping gifts in printed cloth, and using these cloth to transport items. It also refers to the cloth itself, and dates back over a thousand years.
Furoshiki is relevant now because it is an eco-friendly, sustainable way to wrap gifts (and to always have a shopping bag when you need one). In Japan, tradition calls for the recipient of the gift to open the gift and return the Furoshiki cloth to the gifter to be used again. There are many creative ways to fold the Furoshiki and make an elegant and creative presentation, and they come in many different sizes. In Japan, women will wear a large Furoshiki scarf as part of their outfit, and will use it as a carry bag when necessary to bring things home from the store. Some of the furoshiki cloths are gorgeous.
It's great because there's no leftover ribbons, trash, etc. to clog the landfills. Here are some pictures of the gifts from this Christmas (my wife loves cats):
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