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Wrap Not, Waste Not

A mathematical equation may help cut down on holiday waste.

Thursday, December 06, 2007

By Jennifer Chu

Credit: Nicolas Raymond

Each year, reams and reams of wrapping paper are wasted as gift givers tend to overestimate the amount of gift wrap required to festoon their packages. To cut down on all this holiday paper waste, a British mathematician at the University of Leicester has devised a formula for how to most efficiently wrap a present of any shape and size.

In a university press release, the equation's originator, postgraduate student Warwick Dumas, says,

"We have tested different methods of wrapping and our investigations showed that ... cutting the right size of paper will allow consumers to wrap presents in the least amount of time and achieve a classy result."

The formula, which can be applied to any box-shaped item, goes like this:

Area = 2(ab+ac+bc+c²)

"To explain in the most simplistic terms, the minimal area of paper needed to wrap a box-shaped gift is twice the sum of the height times the width, the width times the depth and the height times the depth, plus twice the square of the depth," says Dumas.

In multiple tests, Dumas found that wrapping cubic-shaped objects diagonally used up more paper than wrapping along the edges--except when the object has a square base. Then, the best method is to wrap diagonally, so that the flaps only just meet.

The same equation for box-shaped items may be used to wrap cylindrical gifts whose radius is greater than 87 percent of their height (for example, a squat tin of cookies). Taller cylinders (e.g., tubes of socks) may be best wrapped via a rolling method.

Dumas has teamed up with Bluewater, a major shopping center based in the United Kingdom, to help shoppers reduce their "gift-wrapping footprint." Bluewater plans to hold workshops throughout the holiday season to teach shoppers the ecofriendly wrapping equation.

Of course, minimizing the extra scratch paper you'll need in order to make your gift-wrapping calculations is another problem entirely.

Tags: gifts, holiday season, present wrapping , Christmas

Comments

	gift wrapping by formula jwoodside on 12/07/2007 at 6:01 AM
Posts: 5 Avg Rating:	Good luck Warwick Dumas! Seems to me this is a good example of a disconnect between theory and practice. I doubt that many people wrapping gifts are going to work all this out to save a few centimeters/inches of paper. I will continue to estimate required paper by placing the gift on the paper and rolling it over in different directions to see how much paper I will need. Rate this comment: (Reply)

	Give fewer presents ........ DJTal on 12/07/2007 at 12:49 PM
Posts: 109 Avg Rating:	.... and SAVE the ((((PLANET)))) by doing so . Give people a phone call instead its much nicer . Rate this comment: (Reply)

	SImple: don't use wrapping paper jesup on 12/08/2007 at 12:05 PM
Posts: 6 Avg Rating:	My family converted over years ago to homemade gift bags. My sister-in-law bought a bunch of holiday-themed fabrics, and sewed them into bags. We each have a set (of all sorts of different sizes, from jewelry-size to big enough for all but the largest presents. Many of them have built-in ties of various types. She gave a set of them to each of us as a present one year; if you have a sewing machine they're trivial to make. Wrapping takes WAY less time (a huge benefit), and at the end of Christmas morning, we don't have a huge garbage can or two of discarded wrapping paper. We just fold the bags, put the pile into the largest one, and put it in the closet for next year. It also saved time and space for my parents, since my stepmother (who's that unusual breed, the organized packrat) used to try to save as much of the wrapping paper she could each year and re-use it, which took a lot of time (and care in opening presents). Rate this comment: (Reply)

	Re: SImple: don't use wrapping paper johnalphonse on 05/12/2008 at 11:20 AM
Posts: 66 Avg Rating:	Kudos. Reusable bags and boxes. Simple, effective, habit-forming! Been doin' it for years with store-bought bags and boxes; no tape necessary either. I like the idea of the cloth bags being customized and reused as they are durable and personal like a Christmas stocking. Rate this comment: (Reply)

	Some more simplifying ideas dmm on 12/10/2007 at 5:36 PM
Posts: 135 Avg Rating:	Keep the presents in another room, and bring them out one by one behind your back. Then just whip it out and say, "Ta-da!" or "Merry Christmas!" or whatever. Or, if it comes in an unmarked box, tape it shut and put it under the tree. Or, just keep old boxes (flattened) in your attic and re-use them. Or, wrap stuff in sheets or blankets. All have same surprise effect, with no waste or hassle. Rate this comment: (Reply)