Every day I have to dispose of packaging materials. The smaller the item is, the bigger its package is. Supposedly this increases the product's eye appeal. Not for my eye. I thinks it's malicious manufacturing, marketing madness and sabotage salesmanship. Of course, I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for manufacturers to package their products responsibly. I'd turn blue and I don't look good in blue, but I digress.



The recycling I mean is - gifts - what some people call re-gifting and others call ... wrong. I admit it. I re-gift. For me gifts fall into four categories: something I asked for, something I can use, something too beautiful or sentimental to give away and everything else. It's that fourth category I "reuse". The fourth category, however, is divided into two sub-categories: donations and re-gifting.

No one gasps with disapproval if I donate a set of puffy, perfumed hangers I don't want to St. Joseph Center's Thrift Store. In fact, I get credit for a good deed; but if I gave the hangers to someone else, some people would think I've committed a gift-wrapped sin.

I'm a sensible person - not a scrooge. Take the book about making lace that Cousin Walter gave me for my birthday - please! I wouldn't give that book to anyone else. I don't know why he gave it to me, but I gave it to the library and got credit for another good deed.

But if someone gave me a lovely sweater - and the giver definitely wouldn't be Cousin Walter - I mean a REALLY LOVELY BLUE sweater - what's wrong with giving it to a friend, whose favorite color is blue? Okay, if the sweater came with a gift receipt, I could return it; but isn't that recycling too? I'd be giving it back to the store and taking something else. Why return something I KNOW someone else would DEFINITELY love? Really, she looks great in blue.

To me re-gifting makes sense, as well as cents. In fact, I think there are a lot of people who should come out of the closet and admit they re-gift. Besides, coming out of the closet would give them more room to store their recyclable gifts.