You might have a mom, dad, offspring or other relative that likes to slowly open gifts, so as to reuse the disposable wrapping paper that covers stuff during holidays, birthdays and other special occasions. Or maybe you’re familiar with the American tradition of packing all the torn-up wrapping paper into a garbage bag after the unwrapping is done.
As TreeHugger notes, not all wrapping paper can be recycled. Basically, the plain and simple variety can, but others with sparkles and such cannot. Shiki Wrap, from a Vermont startup, wants to introduce a new tradition to American culture. It’s “a beautiful, sustainable alternative to paper gift wrap made in the USA on soft fabric derived from recycled plastic, inspired by the Japanese tradition of furoshiki,” founder Meagan Downey explains.
Downey is raising funds to launch her product via Kickstarter, which has featured Shiki Wrap as a Project We Love.
The pitch for Shiki Wrap goes like this: You can reuse it, and “it wraps like magic.” The wrapping paper is “a gift within a gift.” It’s machine washable and “incredibly durable.”
The Kickstarter campaign aims to raise $10,000 by Aug. 11 and has close to $4,000 in backing as of this writing.
Downey says the startup aims to reduce paper gift wrap waste, of which there’s a lot.
The amount of trash produced in the United States between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, for instance, increases by an estimated 25%, or about 1 million extra tons of garbage each week, according the National Environmental Education Foundation. That extra waste includes wrapping materials which end up in landfills.
Shiki Wrap is made of soft of stretchy fabric (Repreve) derived from recycled plastic, the startup says, and is simple to tie around a gift without crinkles, wrinkles, scissors or tape.
How often do you misplace scissors or tape while wrapping gifts? Anyway ... you also can imagine how this would make it easier to wrap unusually shaped gifts.
Shiki Wrap designs include leafi, featured at the top, and holli, featured below.
Pledges to the campaign start as small as $1. A pledge of $29 will get you a single wrap if the fundraising goal is met.
Downey says the startup developed a prototype in 2020 and is looking to perfect that model and finalize designs for the upcoming holiday season. Shiki Wrap is a finalist for The Eddies, formally the New England Innovation Awards.
