While regifting may be frowned upon by some, re-gift-wrapping can be a delight for many.

Every holiday season, dedicated holiday recyclers find ways to reclaim wrapping paper, containers and bows, using them again and again in later years. Those who do it say they can help save the planet while spending less and savoring memories.

"I haven't had anyone give me funny looks when I ask for the (gift) bag back. Most people are just interested in what's inside and never worry about the bag," said Susan Palmquist, whose Budgetsmartgirl.com offers money-saving tips on everything from food to hair color.

What to save, stash and revive for later use depends on your comfort level. Gift wrap with few tears, folds or dangling tape can be ironed, tissue paper with no tears can be smoothed and flattened for storage, bows can be steamed and fluffed, fabric bags gently cleaned, and ribbons pressed and rewound for use as good as new.

Boxes and bags from Tiffany, Saks, Nordstrom and other high-end stores are known for durability, said enthusiasts, some of whom carry on Christmas recycling traditions that began with their parents and grandparents.

Tracey McBride has used three of her mother's decorative English biscuit tins for gifts and Santa treats under the tree after she rescued them from her parents' garage sale pile more than 20 years ago. Like Fitzpatrick, she keeps them in the family so she can use them again, recalling her mother's story about craving the biscuits when she was pregnant with McBride's older brother while living in England.

"They remind me of exotic gift boxes," McBride said.

Growing up, McBride remembers the tins around the house, filled with teas, office supplies and crackers. Now, after the death of her mom from multiple sclerosis in 2006, they're also filled with bittersweet thoughts each Christmas.

"I have the original three tins and a half-dozen more. They look charming set under a tree and evoke the memory of my mother," McBride said.

Recycling gift wrap and other holiday trappings has value beyond sentiment. The Clean Air Council estimates that added food waste, shopping bags, packaging, paper, bows and ribbons create an additional 1 million tons of waste per week between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day -- much of it going to landfills.

Some of that can be avoided.

Leslie Carlson of Portland, Ore., said she has gift wrap on hand that's older than her marriage -- about 10 years. She hasn't bought a ribbon in five years or more.

"We always warn the receiver that the present is not actually from Nordstrom, even though we do think you'll like it," she said.

Dorothy Molstad of Stillwater, Minn., said recycling fabric bags is so popular in her extended family that each household has its own patterns for easy retrieval and return.

"You can make it to fit any gift you need, and clean up after gift opening is easy," she said.

If you have no intention of chasing down gift boxes or bags after turning them over to friends, family or colleagues, you can cover store logos with inexpensive decals or seasonal fabric as a way to encourage receivers to pass them on rather than throw them out.

Veteran holiday recyclers suggest saving a variety of box sizes that can nest inside each other to avoid flattening them during storage. Or you can fill up your favorites to protect ribbons and bows from getting crushed.

Even throwaways that may not look worthy of saving likely can be used again.

Long ribbon is the best, for example, because it can be wrapped around most gifts, but shorter bits can be repurposed for school science projects, arts and crafts, doll hair makeovers or a decorative touch on greeting cards, candleholders or around the bottlenecks of gifted wine and spirits.

"For as long as I can remember, my parents neatly folded the wrapping paper, saved ribbons and boxes, and it used to drive me crazy," said Kara DiCamillo of Newport, R.I. "I think they still use a box from a company that went out of business 20 years ago -- and we still laugh about it each Christmas. Now, as I've gotten older and conscious about the environment, I am following in their footsteps."