An Eco-Friendly Gifting Guide For All Who Love The Holiday Season & Sustainability

December 29, 2021

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! A chance to spend time with loved ones and shop for the perfect gift your family or friends will love. But, let’s be honest choosing the perfect Christmas gift can be difficult. Especially if you are someone who happens to also care about the environment.

Although we know the holidays can be stressful enough, there is no better time to begin your journey towards a more sustainable lifestyle. There are so many amazing eco-friendly gifts that are recyclable and sure to be loved and appreciated by anyone on your list. Your holiday gifts offer the perfect opportunity and gateway to begin living a more sustainable lifestyle.

From Christmas scented candles to sustainable stocking stuffers let’s check out some eco-friendly Christmas gifts ideas for everyone on your list!

Reusable water bottle

The increase in plastic use over the last 50 years has created issues affecting our health and environment. Not only do countless water bottles end up in US landfills yearly, but they also contain toxins that you ingest with each sip. Wild right! Now, there are many fashionable options available that replace the need for single-use plastic bottles. You can personalize bottles with initials, quotes, or prints adding a special touch to this gift idea. So, do your part for the environment and loved ones by giving this unique sustainable Christmas gift.

Sustainable Toys

Nothing fills your heart more than seeing the eyes of a child open their gifts on Christmas morning. But, have you ever thought about the effects that toy has on the environment? Brent Bell, vice president of recycling at Waste Management states “Plastic toys pose a unique challenge because they’re typically composed of other materials too, such as metals. The recyclable components can’t be separated out, and become prohibitive for recycling centers”. Toys made of reclaimed timber, toxic-free paint, and use recyclable paper for packaging are the perfect sustainable Christmas gifts for kids. Plus it encourages children to use their imagination! So, purchase a eco-friendly gift that will inspire imaginative play and help the environment.

Cork Yoga Mat

A “Core Yoga Mat” is the perfect eco friendly gift for the yogi in your life. Cork is made from the outer layer of a Cork Oak Trees bark and when stripped regenerates, so it’s both renewable and environmentally friendly.

Traditional yoga mats are made of Polyvinyl chloride known as PVC. “It’s one of the most environmentally hazardous consumer materials ever produced. PVC can’t be recycled due to the toxins embedded within it”. Plastic-free yoga mats are a great alternative while still being lightweight and providing extra cushion. So, if your yogi’s aim is to live a healthy lifestyle, this sustainable eco-friendly Christmas gift will make for the perfect holiday present.

Scented candles

You can never go wrong with a candle as a gift. A good candle can lift spirits, calm stress, and not to mention are usually budget-friendly. Plus, there are plenty of eco-friendly Christmas candle gift options to choose from. Eco-friendly candles aim to use natural ingredients like soy wax, pure essential oils, and other renewable resources.

Ardor Bin is an eco-friendly, sustainable candle company that offers a variety of Christmas scented candles for your gifting needs. There are scents such as Winter Sap + Fir, a seasonal blend of sandalwood, patchouli, bergamot, and rich spices. Or, Woodfire + Spruce, a winter fragrance with a mix of sweet amber, musk, and woody notes of cedar. This sustainable stocking stuffer or gift idea is unisex making it a great gifting solution from family to white elephant gift exchanges.

An Eco-Friendly Experience

If gifts aren’t really that special person on your lists’ “thing”, perhaps gifting them with an amazing experience would be a better alternative. According to Joseph Goodman, an associate professor at Washington University who studies the effects of giving experiences as gifts, says, “Experiences are less likely to be unfavorably compared with something else, partly because they’re more likely to be unique”. You can create a sustainable Christmas gift that is specific to that person’s interests like a cooking class, weekend getaway, or certificate to a spa. Everyone loves a gift that feels personal and thoughtful, and an experience is definitely a gift that offers those things.

Plants

Plants are some of the best eco-friendly gifts. Not only are they decorative, but they also improve air quality in your home. They are symbolic of tranquillity and are great gender-neutral gifts. There are so many plant species to choose from. From a seasonal Poinsettia to an ordinary house plant there are many options for you to explore. But, although seasonal plants are beautiful, a traditional house plant will last longer and looks beautiful as decor all year round. Here are a few of the most popular house plants:

Monstera deliciosa “Swiss cheese plant”
Philodendron hederaceum ‘Brasil’ philodendron ‘Brasil’
Ficus benghalensis ‘Audrey’ Bengal fig
Sansevieria Zeylanica ‘Snake Plant”
ZZ Plant
Pothos Plant

These are the best plants to give no matter if this is their first plant or they’re an experienced plant parent. Thus, these plants are sure to serve as amazing eco-friendly Christmas gifts that will last past the holiday season.

Sustainable Journal

Who doesn’t love a good journal? Keeping one can help you in so many ways. It can help you express your innermost feelings, plan and set goals, gain clarity, and help you maintain your all-important grocery shopping lists. Whatever its use, there a many eco-friendly options that make a great sustainable stocking stuffer gift. For example, many eco-friendly brands combine sustainability with artistry to offer one-of-a-kind journals.

You can find ones with paper that is 100% recycled, inks and glues which are vegetable-based, or brands that donate a portion of sales to organizations around the world. Therefore, not only can journaling be good for your mind, now it’s good for the environment and humanity too! This is one of the ideal eco-friendly gifts that will keep on giving even after Christmas is over.

A Compost Bin

You don’t need a yard to compost your organic trash. Composting is easier than ever. Now, you can compost in your apartment! This is the ultimate eco-friendly Christmas gift as composting at home minimizes the amount of garbage sent to landfills. “Currently, 95% of compostable waste goes to landfills or is incinerated. Composting sequesters carbon in the soil (rather than putting it in the air by incinerating waste) and limits methane by keeping waste out of landfills”. So, consider gifting a sustainable family member or friend in your life with a composting bin and starter kit. Help them get started on their journey towards living a more sustainable lifestyle in the comfort of their own home.

Sharing gifts with friends and family is synonymous with celebrating the holiday season. And now you can see it’s also a way to expose more people to sustainability and a more environmentally friendly lifestyle through gifts. And there are so many eco-friendly Christmas gift options to choose from nowadays. From Christmas scented candles to toys there is sure to be a great sustainable eco-friendly gift for everyone on your Christmas list this year.

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