I have to admit that I never thought too much about this before.  Today, I read an article that made me pause to consider the possibilities.

In the past, we lived in a very rural area.  Whatever we couldn’t compost, we burned in a burning barrel to reduce the amount of trash we had for curbside pickup.  Trash removal was so expensive!  I burned a lot of wrapping paper over the years.  I’ve also recycled wrapping paper by using it for other gifts, or I’ve used it to line bureau drawers.  I have to admit that I’ve probably thrown away a lot of wrapping paper too.

Gary Jones is the director of a company called Printing Industries of America.  He says that today’s inks contain safe pigments.  However, when those pigments are burned, that can change.  He advises consumers to not burn wrapping paper for that reason.

I’ve never tried burning wrapping paper in a fireplace, although we did heat our home with a wood stove for many years.  My concern there would be that the bits of paper wouldn’t totally disintegrate and could cause a chimney fire.

Surprisingly, the experts say that the best and safest thing to do with wrapping paper is to recycle it or simply throw it away.