If you read my articles about reducing waste about the house and in the bathroom in particular, you’ll have realised that I have been trying to cut back on unnecessary packaging and disposable items in general. It is quite a time-consuming process because of the research involved and the time required to try out each alternative solution.
I have not managed to completely banish plastic or even disposable products from my day-to-day life but I am very happy with the progress I have made. I am looking forward to taking it a step further in 2017!
With this in mind, I wanted to make sure I didn’t forget the planet when buying my Christmas gifts this year.
At this time of year, there are a LOT of articles on the Internet with lists of Christmas presents for different types of people. I am happy to have managed to get almost everything done already as I loathe going shopping in December… But I also wanted to have enough time to select gifts that wouldn’t be (too) bad for the environment.
So today I wanted to make my own list of eco-friendly and/or long-term presents for Christmas this year. Some of these ideas are not clearly marketed as environmentally-friendly. However, as they are products that will last or on the contrary be used up and recycled, I feel like they are more reasonable than yet another “disposable” gift that will be forgotten come January.
So here are a few ideas of Christmas presents to choose from if you’re trying to be kind to the planet this year:
- Nice tea leaves bought in bulk and presented in a reusable metal box
- An Itunes or Netflix gift card (instead of a CD or DVD)
- The Prêt-à-Pousser mushroom growing kits I spoke of here, as an introduction to the local food movement
- A coupon for some sort of outing like a play at the theatre, a theme park, a concert or a nice meal at a restaurant (it is even better if you can get the tickets in advance and put them in an envelope)
- A mason jar filled with flour, chocolate chips and sugar to make a base (when mixed with eggs and milk) for homemade brownies or cookies. Here is a list of “in a jar” recipes you could use.
- A pile of second-hand paperback novels. Selecting some of your favourite books to share would be a lovely present to someone dear. For some ideas, here are all my articles on books!
- Gardening tools, to encourage your friends and family to grow fruit and vegetables in their garden!
- Reusable makeup wipes to replace disposable cotton balls
- Good quality soap, animal fat and palm oil free
- A few fair trade chocolate bars
- A piece of jewellery like a watch, a bracelet or earrings — as long as you choose something that can be worn and cherished for years!
- A non-toxic scented candle
- A small wooden box of essential oils, with a guide on how to use them
- Homemade biscuits in a reusable glass container
- A few pretty notebooks made with recycled paper
- Elegant cloth napkins, to replace the disposable paper version
- Reusable, nice-looking plastic glasses for someone who throws a lot of parties
- A plant that is easy to look after, like a cactus or an aloe vera plant
- A book on reducing waste, like Bea Johnson’s Zero Waste Home that is full of useful info on how to make a change for the better
- A rechargeable pen in order to avoid throwing out all of those empty ball point pens!
Do you have any other ideas of eco-friendly Christmas gifts?
