Guide to Green Gifts
Why Give Green
- Life cycle of an item: extraction, production, distribution, consumption, and disposal. Check out: Story of Stuff
- Environmental, social, and economic responsibility
- Encourage recipients to live more sustainably
Gifts That Give Back
- Donate to a charity or NGO in the name of the recipient.
- Adopt and animal, plant a tree, etc.
Material-Free Gifts
- Concert tickets
- Dance, music, or kickboxing lessons
- Gift certificates to spas, or restaurants
- Homemade gift certificates for home-cooked meals or household chores
- Certificates to Netflix or iTunes
- Digital subscriptions to magazines
- Memberships to gyms or museums
Homemade
- If you have arts and crafts skills, use them, but make sure it’s a useful item
- Get inspiration or buy homemade at Etsy
How to Buy a Green Gift
- Be thoughtful about your purchases and pick useful items built to last. Even greener options don’t make good gifts if they end up in an attic or landfill or attic.
- Buy from a sustainable company.
- Pick products made from recycled or renewable materials.
- Buy products made in the U.S. from local stores.
- Look for fair traded imports such as jewelry, housewares, and handicrafts.
- When in doubt, buy food. Organic, Fair Trade Certified and locally grown foods and gift baskets are a safe bet- and usually don’t go to waste.
Examples
Green Gift Guides
Wrap Responsibly
- Make the wrapping part of the gift. Fill a bamboo mixing bowl with organic fruit and Fair Trade Certified chocolate.
- Use newspaper, magazines, paper bags, old posters, scrap fabrics, or old maps as wrapping paper.
- Use alternative materials like recycled wrapping paper of tree-free paper.
