Sustainable Gift Ideas for Everyone on Your List
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Sustainable Gift Ideas for Everyone on Your List



Are you looking for sustainable gifts this holiday season? You probably know that the more sustainably we shop all year long, the more we can do our part to help the environment. We can buy things that our family will really love while also showing our care for the planet.


The World Wildlife Fund provides these tips for sustainable Christmas presents:


1. Quality not quantity: Over half of UK adults say they have received gifts they don't want at Christmas1. When buying gifts think: less but better, putting the time into picking a quality item that will last a long time.

2. Gift an experience: Gifting an experience for your loved ones will reduce demand for physical resources. Bring people together by gifting your time or a pre-bought experience.

3. Think about materials: Look at the materials gifts are made from and keep sustainability in mind. Ensure wood and paper gifts are made from recycled or Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified materials. Avoid single plastics items that can’t be recycled and look for things like Organic-certified food and clothing

4. Remove packaging: Reduce waste even further by buying gifts with little or no packaging. Sometimes shopping local can help with this, especially if you have a local refill shop.

5. Test your wrapping skills: Look for cards and wrapping paper made from recycled or FSC-certified paper. Avoid plastic ribbon and tape or foil-backed wrapping paper.

6. The gift of a better future: If you’re struggling for a gift idea - why not support WWF’s work by choosing an animal adoption or one of our memberships?


When you take all of this advice in mind while shopping, one of the biggest things to remember is to be mindful about what you are giving. You can reduce waste by only getting thoughtful gifts that you think people will really want. By doing this, you can ensure that gifts will be things that aren't going to get thrown out early next year.


Reducing waste is big, especially when shopping for kids' toys. Often, kids will get a profusion of small gifts that they aren't actually going to play with very much. Instead, you can opt for a couple of bigger gifts that they are going to enjoy more long-term.


The World Wildlife Fund also has gifts in their shop if you are looking for a wildlife inspired gift this holiday season!


For Kids


When it comes to sustainable gifts for kids, you can be sure to find something they will really love, and that will last for a long time. There are many kids toys that are made out of either wood or recycled plastic. These will last longer, and are more eco friendly.


National Geographic Magazine now has their own shop, with sustainable kids' products that you can take a look at this Christmas. Not only are these gifts sustainable, they can help kids learn about nature too!


Sustainably Chic has also put together a great list of kids' toy brands that have sustainable gifts for this holiday season.


Home Made Baked Goods


If you are looking for something to give your friends and family this holiday season, everyone loves baked goods! You can make a big batch of cookies, fudge, or other holiday favorites for your friends and family to enjoy. Then, you can mix and match and put together a unique goody basket.


When you make your goody baskets, you can also include fruit and nuts, to make things a bit healthier, and good for the planet at the same time.


By making everything yourself, you are eliminating all of the plastic waste that comes with buying packaged goods. Also, since all the goodies will likely get eaten, there isn't any waste that will be taking up space in a landfill.


Sustainable Clothing Brands


Since more and more people are looking to go green, there are quite a few sustainable clothing brands available these days. When you take a look at these, you can give a fashionable gift for the people on your list and still keep the environment in mind.


According to Sustainability Magazine, here are the top 10 sustainable clothing brands:


6. Pact


When you shop any of these sustainable brands, you will have the piece of mind of knowing that there have been sustainable practices in place when they were made, and that many of them use recycled materials; with Patagonia using 100% recycled materials in their clothing.


This combats recent fast fashion trends. According to Good On You,

Fast fashion can be defined as cheap, trendy clothing that samples ideas from the catwalk or celebrity culture and turns them into garments at breakneck speed to meet consumer demand. The idea is to get the newest styles on the market as fast as possible, so shoppers can snap them up while they are still at the height of their popularity and then, sadly, discard them after a few wears. It plays into the idea that outfit repeating is a fashion faux pas and that if you want to stay relevant, you have to sport the latest looks as they happen. It forms a key part of the toxic system of overproduction and consumption that has made fashion one of the world’s largest polluters.

By shopping sustainable clothing brands this holiday, you can help to combat fast fashion trends, so that we all take better care of the environment.


Sustainable Cosmetics


When you shop for cosmetics this holiday season, you can buy sustainable beauty brands, many of which are vegan, cruelty free, and use products that have less waste and less packaging.


According to Earth, here are some of the best sustainable beauty brands:


1. REN

2. Aveda

3. Lush

4. Herbivore

5. Giorgio Armani

6. L’Occitane

7. Clarins

8. Origins

8. Weleda

9. Axiology Natural Organic Lipstick

10. The Body Shop

11. Burt’s Bees

12. Ilia

13. UpCircle Beauty

14. Tata Harper


When you buy these sustainable cosmetics brands, you are helping to do your part to fight climate change, by changing out products that pollute for products that are more globally conscious.


Here are just a few tips to get you started with having a sustainable holiday! By shopping brands that support the environment, we are all doing our part to take care of our planet this holiday season. Also, don't forget, once the kids are done unwrapping their gifts, you can either hold onto gift bags for next year, or recycle your gift paper too.


Have a lovely holiday, and thank you for keeping the planet in mind this holiday season!



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