UPDATE: This blog has been edited to fit the current COVID situation we are experiencing so basically all outdoor activities, concerts, and experiences had been changed.
Sometimes buying presents feel like a burden and you find yourself going around malls, searching online for hours and still have no idea what to give to someone either for graduation, kids' birthday parties, baby showers, and most importantly, the holidays.
Everyone loves presents. I know I love to give presents to my family and friends but most of the time we don't have in mind the "waste factor" of a present.
FACT: Americans throw away 25% more trash during the Thanksgiving to New Year's holiday period than any other time of year. The extra waste amounts to 25 million tons of garbage, or about 1 million extra tons per week!
Now that I've changed my life to be planet-friendly, gifting items that are better for the environment and the person receiving them brings me joy. I feel that I’m doing something good by exposing others to why I live the way I do in hopes that this encourages them to reduce waste and change their mindset too.
Good for you, good for them and most importantly, good for the planet.
Here are 50 zero-waste, eco-friendly, sustainable or however you want to call it ideas.
1. Here's my first advice: Skip the card. Greeting cards are a waste of paper (and trees) TBH. Don't believe me?
Americans purchase about 7 billion greeting cards every year. That equals about 140,000 tons of paper. Assuming that about 30% of greeting cards are recycled paper, that represents about 2.5 million trees cut down each year for greeting cards.
recycledgreetingcards.com
It is something you spend anywhere from $1 - $10 and it goes straight to the trash. If you don't want to handmade one then try Seedy cards which is a good option since it's seed paper so people can plant it, or if it gets "lost in the woods" or flies away from the trash truck into the side of the road it won't harm the environment and instead grow either herbs or flowers. Another option for Holiday cards as suggested by Julia Burrel @thecrazynoplasticlady is Paper Culture, a sustainable company that plants a tree for every order.
2. Homemade Brownies nicely packed in cardboard boxes or paper bags or paper wrapping with a cute burlap or jute bow. Picture to give you an idea.
3. Winter is known as "Dry Skin Season", anyone would appreciate a nice hydrating balm that you can use anywhere in your body like Yay For Earth
4. Plants, like real plants. The kind you water and put in the sun. These are good options.
5. PAKT unique and refined, responsibly-sourced travel accessories. Functional beautiful bags.
6. Crocheted mittens, scarf, or blanket. (if you are crafty like that). But remember to use natural fibers!
7. Homemade Cookies, everyone loves cookies, and you can pack them in a cute crafty way too, like the brownies! Picture for reference
8. Vintage Jewelry. Any thrift store or antique store has gorgeous vintage jewelry. Support your locals!
10. Bamboo Travel Utensils (This is a wonderful and convenient gift for anyone that's unconfortable using plastic cutlery)
11. Restaurant gift certificate (the kind you print not the plastic credit card type and aim for a small local restaurant, not a chain)
12. A Set of reusable silicone bags to help kick the Ziploc habit out! plus they are very helpful and durable.
16. Sustainable Shoes for everyone! also these
17. Gift Card from Pela Case (For biodegradable cellphone case or sunglasses)
18. Small kids? These super cute, fun and mess free Bamboo Plates.
19. Fruit Basket. You can get a vintage basket at any thrift store and make it yourself! Picture for reference
20. Homemade Bread, jams or Jellies.
21. A Gift card for Genusee Sunglasses (Every pair of Genusee glasses upcycles 15 water bottles and they are USA made in Flint, MI)
22. A Safety razor is a great gift for either men or women. Pair it with a Natural shaving Brush or a synthetic one, a stainless steel shaving bowl and a nice shaving soap for the ultimate super nice sustainable shaving set ever.
23. A nice Bar Soap (Everyone loves a good bar soap)
25. Cloth Napkins or Hankies. Find those easily at a thrift store/vintage store/antique store.
26. ECOSIA GIFTS to help plant trees.
27. Local Art
29. Handmade plastic-free Bee Balm or the Vegan Lip Butter
30. Charity Donation in Recipients Name
32. Secondhand Items – thrift stores, consignment stores and antique shops are gold!
33. 4Ocean Bracelet
35. Locally Made Pottery
37. Gift card for eco-friendly products
38. Booze (Wine or nice whiskey is always a nice choice) – Make sure they recycle the bottles! 😉
39. Money. Some people think is tacky, but is not. It is an easy gift and the one people like the most.
40. A Gift card for Tushy (Bidet)
41. A Face Brush, or Body Brush, or both!
42. Lotion Bars To pamper and hydrate your skin
43. Need Stocking Stuffers? how about these crayons
44. Plastic-free, cruelty-free, vegan makeup
45. A beautiful and durable Bamboo Hair Brush
46. A funny but amazing handmade soap.
47. Swedish Cloths! They are super nice and versatile and come in different styles
48. Living Composter
49. Here's a whole lot of ideas for baby & kids gifts
50. A present for the pet lovers
Hopefully, this list is enough to get you started. What zero waste gift ideas did I miss? Let me know! Happy gifting!
An extra recommendation is, wrap your presents in newspaper, reused paper (from previous parties, you know as grandmas did! they saved all the papers to reuse), Kraft paper from previous deliveries, or if you want something reusable, consider buying old handkerchiefs, cloth napkins or scarves and use that to wrap gifts! it's like a double gift. Another option is The Fab wrap or Rapt.
Also, use paper tape or washi tape in replacement of clear plastic tape.