Furoshiki

Furoshiki is the Japanese process of wrapping items in cloth instead of using wrapping paper or even plastic and paper bags. It can be used for gift wrapping, bagging a lunch, carrying your books, and many other uses.  Furoshiki has been used for hundreds of years and in 2006 Ms Yuriko Koike, Minister of the Environment, created the "Mottainai Furoshiki" as a symbol of Japanese culture to reduce waste. As part of this initiative the Japanese government put out this little poster about how to package almost anything using a piece of fabric.

Right click and save this image to your computer to see the full thing! (it is a large picture) If you are worried about giving away your fabric (I know I don't like to give away some silks or expensive fabrics) you can use this for gifts in the household like birthday gifts for your kids or spouse. When you give a gift ask for the fabric back or give the fabric as part of the gift and share the image above so your friend can save money too. You might get come nice cloth back when it's your turn to get a gift if you make this common practice. 

It is very cute, very frugal, very environmental and wouldn't you be the trendy one this spring!