My father collects beautiful wrapping paper, and often finds subtle ways of matching the paper to the person, or to the gift inside. He doesn’t like it when people save the paper, probably because he can imagine it gathered, forgotten, creased, and torn. Is it defaced by strips of clear tape, or by a scarring attempt to remove the tape? Best to dispose of it with respect.
My father does reuse other types of paper. To prevent my birthday gifts from rattling in the mail, he cushioned them with crumpled yellow and blue tissue paper, and strips torn from a ‘Belmont Books Think Local Buy Local’ paper bag.
Toilet paper shortages have been extreme enough for violinists to dress up in orange life preserver vests to serenade the empty aisles. I’m on my seventh-to-last roll. So when I saw my handful of bright tissue paper move towards my recycling bin, I laughed and saved it for a ridiculous moment I’d rather not have. But tomorrow, when I unwrap my birthday gifts, I will put the beautiful paper in the recycling bin, as a symbol of my trust in all of you.