A West Stirlingshire-based green enterprise is hoping to make headlines - by using newsprint to create eco-friendly wrapping paper.
Scrunch Eco Wrap is a new business set up by production journalist Julie Ross and her creative artist daughter Eleanor, turning blank sheets of newsprint into something special.
It was the bags of unrecyclable plastic and glitter-laced wrapping paper year piling up every Christmas Day morning that got Julie wondering whether she could start making her own, more sustainable gift wrap.
And when Glasgow hosted COP26 in 2021 and the spotlight was on what countries and individuals could do to become more planet friendly, Julie was spurred on find a greener wrapping solution.
For Julie, who has worked as a journalist and sub-editor for more than 30 years, it made sense to look to the product she loves - newsprint - and see if it could be used as wrapping paper. Knowing that the newspaper industry adheres to the highest standards of sustainability she reckoned newsprint’s eco-credentials would make it the perfect medium for greener gift wrap.
Combining Glasgow University graduate Eleanor’s vibrant patterns with premium newsprint, together they have produced wrapping sheets which are not only attractive and durable but the perfect thickness to cover a gift.
The pair decided to retain the white border typical of newspapers but the print process they use means there is no inky rub-off and pesky printer’s marks.
Julie said: “The business name Scrunch Eco Wrap is inspired by the test consumers should do to see if their wrapping paper is recyclable, the scrunch test. Take your piece of gift wrap and scrunch it up into a ball, if it stays scrunched and doesn’t unfold itself, it usually can be recycled.”
Their first collection features bright pink and orange ferns, teal flower stems, blue and pink hearts and a colourful botanical and butterfly print. And as their wrap is free of plastics, coatings and uses eco-friendly ink, it can be recycled and is compostable, making it a greener way to give a gift.
The wrap can be bought folded online at Etsy and in newspaper-style rolls at selected local shops in west Stirlingshire.
Julie and Eleanor plan to create around four collections per year, including Christmas wrapping - likely to be their biggest seller - and eventually hope to customise their wrap for corporate clients, using the reverse side of the wrap.
Julie added: “As well as our Scrunch patterns being an attractive wrap we also want to continue using newsprint for the purpose for which it is intended, to tell stories and promote relevant messages. We plan to use the blank side of the wrap for recycling facts and figures as well as allowing clients to tell their own eco-friendly stories.”
And she went on: “We are keen to spread the Scrunch message far and wide so would love to hear from any stores, especially those with an eco-conscious element, who might be interested in stocking our wrap.”
All of the newsprint used in Julie and Eleanor’s wrap is FSC certified, sourced from responsibly managed forests and producers that have met a strict set of environmental and socially-responsible standards. It is also de-inkable, meaning it can be completely recycled to create new newsprint.
They hope by using newsprint in this quirky way they can keep newspapers – which are suffering a gradual decline in circulation – in the public eye, just in a very different way.
•See more at www.scrunchecowrap.com or @scrunchecowrap on Instagram and Facebook.
