‘The LUSH Guide to Knot Wrap’ is a radical manifesto and it’s going to change Christmas

When my copy of ‘The LUSH Guide to Knot Wrap’ dropped through my letterbox, I didn’t expect it to entirely change my outlook on Christmas. Weird sentence, isn’t it? But somehow this book managed it.

The LUSH Guide to Knot Wrap

Did you know that every year, the UK throws away around 227,000 miles of single-use wrapping paper? That is enough bleached, dyed and sellotaped trash to stretch from your living room, all the way to the moon. We buy this crap paper, which is made from felled trees, and it’s covered in metallic inks, making it unrecyclable. We wrap all of our gifts in it, and we watch someone rip it apart in 30 seconds before shoving it into a single-use bin bag. Do you see the issue with this? It’s unhinged behaviour, and yet we repeat it every single Christmas without a second thought.

The LUSH Guide to the Knot Wrap arrives as a direct, stunningly colourful weapon against this societal madness. It’s not a corporate promo or some shitty craft manual. This book is a passionate and well-written manifesto for more sustainable living. And it asks a simple question:

Why keep throwing money in the bin when every gift we give can be wrapped in a permanent piece of art that we can share with our loved ones?

Guys, we need LUSH’s Knot Wraps, and let me tell you why.

Reclaiming a lost feminist art

One of the book’s greatest strengths is how it grounds the zero-waste movement in stunning cultural history. Knot Wraps are not a new concept, they may not be huge in the UK (yet) but the very blueprint if them goes back centuries. And they come from East Asia, most notably the Japanese traditions of ‘Furoshiki’ and the Korean art of ‘Jogakbo’.

Furoshiki, translating literally to ‘bath spread’ from it’s historic roots of carrying clothes in public bath houses, transformed a simple square of cloth into an indispensable, multi-use tool for carrying, shielding and gifting items. Similarly, in Korea, the art of jogakbo developed by women. Jogakbo wrapping cloths were an intricate patchworking technique that women would create by sewing scraps of old material to create something new, vibrant and useful. Excluded from formal education and banished to domestic quarters, Korean women took these offcuts of leftover household fabric and created striking, abstract art. They sewed love, fortune and protection into every stitch.

This book reminds us that wrapping with fabric isn’t just some quirky contemporary trend, dreamed up by some modern marketing team. It’s an historical act of compassion, ancient ingenuity and feminine resourcefulness. If we reconnect with this ancient arts, it exposes just how lazy and destructive we have become. By switching to these traditional methods, we reclaim so much. And we can make sure the labour behind our new Knot Wraps are honoured and cared for, in typical LUSH fashion.

We trade cheap, single use trash for meaningful objects that carry history, intention and actual human connection. Plus they come in a WILD variety of colours and sizes, of which I have ear-marked at least seven to collect.

Turning actual trash into treasure

Where the book truly stunned me is in exposing the scale of what is possible when a company actually cares. You hear all of these soft platitudes from corporate giants. LUSH actually put it’s money where it’s mouth is. In this book it lays out the messy, honest reality of sustainable innovation. They tell the story of early attempts at spinning fabric from otherwise landfill-bound plastic bottles. Their first attempts produced a material that was crispy and too stiff.

But rather than giving up, the team doubled down and refined the process. Today, they have partnered with the EP Group and Henry’s sewing unit. And together, they have managed to divert over 7.5 MILLION plastic bottles from landfill and our oceans. They have managed to turn them into silky, durable rPET fabric which will last generations.

And LUSH didn’t stop their. As per usual, they leveraged their purchasing power to help heal communities. The one that stuck with me was in the wake of the 2011 nuclear disaster in Fukushima. Salt contamination decimated local farmland, but where most saw disaster, LUSH found hope. Supporting the Fukushima Organic Cotton Project, fabric sourcing became a tool for disaster relief. The company helped local farmers to switch to organic cotton that actively decontaminates the soil and gives people back their livelihoods. Think about it. You buy a simple Knot Wrap, and in doing so you’re helping to fuel an engine for environmental and human recovery.

The real-world test for LUSH

As I found, a good book doesn’t just inform you. It forces you to reflect and change. Which is exactly what this book did. There were so many stunning examples of Knot Wraps in the book, each with their own heart-warming story. From highlighting artists with learning difficulties to supporting small community projects, I went on the website and fell in love with so many. They’re colourful, they’re meaningful but I had one final test. Would my closest friends, those who I literally see as family, like the idea?

I pitched an ultimatum, filled with stats, in the group chat: We are done with wrapping paper.

I waited for the pushback, but of course my friends loved the idea instantly. And what followed was literally dozens of screenshots of stunning Knot Wraps, excited chatter about which of us would like which and if we would ask for them back after the gift or if we would circulate these new wrappings, for years. We chose the latter, knowing that eventually, what we had gifted would probably come full circle anyway. Even better, another member of our little family actually pointed out the fact that we could make our own, owing to the fact she has a tie dye business.

See? Switching to reusable wraps isn’t a chore. And it makes gift-giving feel infinitely more meaningful. Instead of filling single-use bin bags with crappy, unethical rubbish on Christmas morning, you can grow a collective library that you can circulate between the people you love the most.

The LUSH Guide to Knot Wrap makes the case for change undeniable. And it doesn’t just prove our toxic relationship with single use paper needs to end to help save the planet – it’s simply a more beautiful way to live.

Now, if you will excuse me, I am off to buy about seven of these. In the next one, I’ll be showing you guys how to use Knot Wraps, and telling you about some of the communities that help to make each one a work of art.

Featured image via Lush 

By Antifabot

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