CURLICUE
Beautiful sustainable gift wrap. Saving the Earth.
About Curlicue
Curlicue makes beautiful eco-friendly sustainable gift wrap and accessories. All Curlicue products are plastic-free, vegan, made in the UK from 100% recycled paper & fully recyclable in household recycling. Curlicue’s beautiful designs are bespoke and exclusive, created by a diverse and eclectic mix of independent artists and illustrators.
Traditional gift wrap products are made with pollutants and plastics that cannot be recycled - like glitter and foiling, which ultimately harm the earth. Even brown paper can be from unsustainable sources and are often imported so have high carbon footprints.
Curlicue was created as a solution to this; gift wrap that is holistically sustainable, from what we use to where it’s made, and printed with beautiful bespoke designs.
We use 100% recycled paper to make our paper products. The paper remains plastic-free – no plastic coating, foiling or glitter – so it can be easily recycled in household recycling. Traditional gift wrap is often coated in plastic to make it stronger because they use poor quality paper fibre. Once plastic is bonded to paper in this way, it cannot be recycled. Recycle Now’s scrunch test is the best way to work out if wrapping paper has a plastic coating.
The vegetable ink we use is also an important element. The soy-based ink we use is non-toxic, whereas traditional inks are derived from fossil fuels and contain chemicals. Vegetable inks also make the recycling process easier, as it washes out of the paper more easily so it can be pulped again. Our inks make our gift wrap vegan too!
All our products are made in the UK for a lower carbon footprint, whereas almost all traditional gift wrap is mass produced and manufactured internationally and shipped to the UK so it has a
bigger carbon footprint. We want to support British businesses of all sizes, so all our partner products are sourced from UK manufacturers too.
At Curlicue, we prioritise high-quality design as much as sustainability. To create our beautiful bespoke designs, we partner with independent artists and illustrators. With us you don’t have to compromise on choosing beautiful wrap to be eco.
Our story
I created Curlicue to give people eco-friendly gift wrap that does not compromise on beautiful, high-quality design which makes it an exciting alternative to brown kraft paper.
Before I launched Curlicue, I had been feeling frustrated with the lack of sustainable wrapping paper that featured beautiful designs for years. For me, the magic in giving a gift is seeing a loved one’s face light up when you hand them a present wrapped in beautiful wrap they would love.
After years of searching and trying to find beautiful wrap that was eco-friendly, I decided to create the solution I was trying to find. I wanted to create gift wrap products that were holistically sustainable, which for me meant: plastic-free, made in the UK, made from 100% recycled paper and printed with vegetable ink.
After almost a year of research, I launched Curlicue in July 2019. Since then it’s been a big journey as a small business thanks to our formative years taking place during the pandemic.
Curlicue’s ethos is simple swaps; small incremental changes everyone can make in their everyday lives to be kinder to the environment. Education is a big part of this, because most people don’t realise the everyday items they buy – like wrapping paper – cause harm the environment and pollute the earth.
We believe beautiful designs should be a big part of creating sustainable products. It makes people want to use sustainable products. That is why we don’t compromise on the designs of our gift wrap. Beautiful bespoke designs are just as important as our sustainability values. We also partner with independent artists and illustrators to create our high-quality designs so that we can support makers and creators – and all our gift wrap is unique and exclusive to us this way too.
We have big ambitions at Curlicue. We’d love to have our sustainable gift wrap stocked across the UK and then work on expanding internationally, finding the best ways to get gift wrap printed regionally and stay true to all our sustainability values.
Hema x
Our products
Our gift wrap is made from 100% recycled uncoated paper and printed with vegetable ink which makes it vegan. All our products are plastic-free, and completely recyclable.
Our products are made in the UK and all our prints are bespoke designs exclusive to Curlicue.
All of our products are delivered to you in recyclable, sustainable packaging too.
Why does it matter?
Human beings are responsible for the climate crisis due, mainly, to our consumption of fossil fuels. Fossil fuels are used to move us around and create our everyday items, like plastic.
If we don't make a serious change, we're going to lose our planet and future generations to climate change.
During the festive season alone, in the UK, we throw away 277,000 miles of wrapping paper. That's over 100 million rolls! (Source: Biffa, December 2018)
Most wrapping paper is coated in plastic or glitter, meaning you can't recycle it, and it ends up in a landfill - often outliving the gift you've given.
Simplifying the simple swap
Simple swaps are at the core of our mission. A simple swap is an easy everyday change you can make from a harmful product to an earth-friendly one. Whether that's cleaning products or wrapping paper, the simple swap is a great way for you to have a positive environmental impact.
Wholesale
At Curlicue, we want to make access to sustainable materials as easy for our customers as possible.
Get in touch with our team today to discuss our wholesale options.
Bespoke
If you're looking for a bespoke print for your brand or outlet and want a sustainable, environmentally friendly option, we offer a bespoke printing service on our eco-friendly wrapping paper.
Get in touch with our team to find out how we can help you with the perfect gift wrap for your business or brand.
About our founder
Our founder Hema Stewart (née Chauhan) is as an avid gift giver, as you would expect! Having grown increasingly frustrated with the lack of eco-friendly gift wrapping products available, Hema decided to create the solution she sought after herself, and so created Curlicue.
Before launching Curlicue, Hema worked in the marketing industry. As a BAME female entrepreneur Hema enjoys sharing her knowledge with entrepreneurs. For media enquiries please get in touch.
