HOLIDAYS : A Gift for the Environment : Many regional merchants suggest dressing up presents with baskets, cloth bags and boxes that can be recycled.

Twenty years ago, Karol Gartley started a family gift-wrapping tradition that has turned into a business seemingly made for the ecologically aware ‘90s.

She began making cloth bags out of brightly decorated Christmas fabric to wrap her presents and last year started her Florida-based company, Fabric Wrap, to market the reusable bags her children grew up with.

“When you consider that . . . we cut down a quarter-million trees each year for Christmas wrap, it really shows how we need to help the world make some earth-friendly changes,” Gartley said.

She was also amazed that no one else had come up with the idea. “It is so simple; just pop in a gift, gather the top and tie with a ribbon. You don’t have to cut any trees down for an expensive gift wrap.”

The Fabric Wrap bags are sold through Walden’s, a new Oxnard mail-order company that features items that are kind to the environment. The bags are sold five to a set for $24.95.

“The gift bags have been selling very well,” said Steve Knight, who co-founded the Walden’s catalogue with his wife, Audrey. “We like the fact that they show that being recycled does not mean being less then perfect.”

Local merchants at environmentally friendly stores suggested other alternatives for dressing up gifts, including using baskets, cloth bags and boxes that can be recycled.

“We encourage people to reuse packaging, to bring in their own baskets, straw, boxes and bows, anything that can be recycled in wrapping their gift,” said Susan Migliaccio, owner of Environs, a Santa Monica environmental store.

Environs sells multicolor string bags that can be tied with raffia or a bow, then reused as gift wrap or a shopping bag. The over-the-shoulder bags sell for $3 to $6.50. The store also wraps presents in biodegradable cellophane and 100% post-consumer recycled paper.

“I also like to give gifts wrapped in an environmental newspaper or magazine. It makes a unique gift wrap and gets a message across,” Migliaccio said.

Terra Verde Trading Co., an ecological department store in Santa Monica, uses corrugated recycled boxes. “We wrap them in hemp twine with dried flowers and use shredded magazines for the inside filler. The boxes are very sturdy and can be used again,” manager Alan Boltuck said.

The store also sells reusable canvas bags, which are widely available and can be used for gift giving.

Closer to home, old scarves or cloth can be used for wrapping. Remnants can be purchased at a fabric store, then reused again and again for gift wrap or turned into other craft projects.

“You have to be creative and go out and find new ideas. We’re making some changes and it is the right thing and the smart thing for the future of the world,” Boltuck said.

And you might just start a family tradition along the way.

Fabric Wrap’s Gartley said: “My two sons, now 23 and 27, have used the bags for years. Now when they come home for Christmas, they want all their gifts wrapped in their own special bags. They say it just wouldn’t be the same without them.”

Where and When What: Fabric Wrap gift bags, available through Walden’s catalogue. Call: (800) 336-4460. What: Environs, 2523 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica. Call: (310) 829-7577. What: Terra Verde Trading Co., 420 Broadway, Santa Monica. Call: (310) 394-1115.