At Christmas, citizens of the Czech Republic waste 35.000 miles of wrapping paper. But in Japan, people use an eco-friendly wrapping cloth called FUROSHIKI that has been used as gift wrapping for centuries. This inspired The Salvation Army.

One week before Christmas 2016, to raise money to support those in need, The Salvation Army set up a wrapping service in shopping malls and made every gift unique by wrapping them with second-hand clothing items.

Each eco-friendly wrap was in fact many gifts in one: shoppers had their presents wrapped beautifully while helping those less fortunate – and the planet.

To make Salvation Paper real, The Salvation Army had to implement two core elements:

The pop-up wrapping service / Made of used pallets to reinforce the eco-friendliness of the salvation paper, the unique wrapping service was an 8-square meter pop-up set up in a busy shopping mall: it had two trained ‘wrappers’, a rack with second hand clothing for people to choose from, and a display with wrapped samples.

The wrap / To make sure each gift wrap looked beautiful regardless of its size or shape, The Salvation Army pre-selected a large variety of second-hand items made of soft colourful fabrics and beautiful patterns, with a vintage feel. 

Salvation Paper supported the image of Salvation Army as of organization that cares about both people and the planet.

Each eco-friendly wrap was also many gifts in one: people had their presents wrapped beautifully, people helped those less fortunate - and helped the planet by producing zero waste.

The most eco-friendly gift wrap increased sales by 600% and showcased how to most efficiently apply the eco-friendly wisdom from the East (Furoshiki) into the wasteful Western society.

So, next Christmas the Salvation Army plans to repeat this initiative in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and the Netherlands – with the aim to make Salvation Paper its Christmas tradition globally.