Holiday time puts us in touch with friends and relatives, but the results can be wasteful. We throw out 25 percent more trash during the winter holidays than at any other time. And, according to the EPA, nearly 40 percent of all municipal solid waste is paper. 

With a little creativity, it's simple to reduce the amount of paper that we use during the holidays. Use these tips to conserve paper this season:

Rethink Greeting Cards

Instead of paper cards and envelopes, local company smilebox lets you create free e-greeting cards using photos, animation and more. For loved ones without email, Green Field Paper Co. offers fun recycled greetings, including cards made from junk mail and cards you can plant. Still have greeting cards from last year? With a little creative cutting, they can be repurposed as gift tags!

Tree-Friendly Wrap

Whenever possible, wrap gifts with decorated brown grocery bags, funny pages, calendars or other would-be-waste papers. Need a fancier look? Paporganics' attractive hemp and recycled paper products are similar in price to conventional wrapping papers. Avoid buying metallic papers, which are difficult to recycle.

Wrap and Reuse

Unlike wrapping paper, reusable gift bags can be given again and again. Lucky Crow makes fabric gift bags with fun prints (including a few made with organic cotton). Handy with a needle? Craft your own gift bags. Or consider using a cookie jar, a colorful pillowcase or another useful gift that could double as gift wrap.

Give Smarter

Experiential gifts don't require wrapping. At the City of Seattle's Waste Free Holidays site, you'll find discounts on tickets and certificates for local museums, sporting events, performances, restaurant meals, massage and more. Not in Seattle? See if there is a Waste Free Holidays program in your area.