Greening it up with packaging!

I buy and use a lot of pretty paper. See here, here, here, and lots of other places.  I also buy a lot of books. See here. I print out lots of articles because I can't edit on a computer screen and I really like red pens. That's a lot of trees! So there are a few things I try to do to limit my paper consumption. I try to make cards of a size so that I use as much of a sheet of paper as possible. When there is a good sized strip left, I save it for making a bookmark. Since I have a lot of books, bookmarks come in handy. And if I have leftover paper that's not quite big enough for a bookmark, perhaps it will make a good gift tag, or mini-note, so I keep that, too. I save even smaller pieces of paper because sometimes they inspire me to start a new project. I also have a whole bag full of the tiniest scraps that I've saved in the hopes of using them to make more paper. 

I always save the brown paper packing material that is stuffed into the cardboard boxes full of (more) books delivered to my door each semester. I reuse it as packing material, but also in many other ways. It's great for making envelopes. You can stamp them, or use pretty labels to personalize them. Have you ever gotten a letter sent in a handmade envelope? I think they're so fun! And with a bit of baker's twine, you can make the prettiest little gift packages.
 
Maybe I'm being environmentally aware, or possibly just thrifty. Maybe I have a secret (not so secret?) hoarding problem, or maybe I'm just creating a fire hazard in my apartment by keeping all those paper scraps lying around. The fire marshall will never get me to give up my brown paper packaging, though!