I always feel a bit like Scrooge when I write this annual story on how to green the holidays, which is often full of things to avoid. This year, except for a reminder to avoid glitter, this piece offers fun ideas for gifts that are both eco and COVID-19-friendly.
Check out these 8 ideas for greening your holiday gift giving this year.
- The Gift of Experiences: Give a gift that needs no wrapping—an experience! From online Tarot card readings to cooking classes and magic lessons, Airbnb experiences is offering a range of fun online activities. Nextavenue has some great ideas for gifts that inspire creativity, such as the Virtual Instructor, which offers painting and drawing classes.
2. The Gift of Food: Fresh, healthy food delivered to your door is the perfect COVID-19 holiday gift. For those of us in the Bay Area, Farm Fresh to Youdelivers food from local farms directly to homes. Other options include gift cards to Rainbow Grocery or the Ferry Plaza Farmers’ Market.
3. EWG Holiday Gift Box: Donate $135 to the Environmental Working Group (EWG) and you can gift someone the EWG Holiday Gift Box, which includes the new cookbook from Bryant Terry, Vegetable Kingdom, a Stasher reusable silicone storage bag, a Klean Kanteen 16oz. insulated tumbler, and more. With a donation of $125 you can gift the Clean Beauty Holiday Pack, consisting of a variety of EWG Verified™, healthy beauty products.
4. Recycle a Gift:Regifting, to give someone a gift that was previously received from someone else, is an increasingly accepted practice. Here are a few tips for regifting tastefully, including making sure it is something the recipient will love.
5. Gardening Items:Interest in gardening has increased during COVID-19. Great gifts for aspiring gardeners include seeds, books, composting equipment, and gardening tools.
6. Green Gear for the Great Outdoors: We are all hiking and getting outdoors more these days. Therefore, a great gift idea is eco-friendly outdoor gear. Check out Patagonia’s WornWear program, which offers lightly-used factory seconds and recrafted items.
7. Shop Green: Choose gifts that are made of sustainable materials and ethically produced, and support the local economy by shopping local. While this is not a complete list, here are some online green gift resources:
- Donate: Instead of buying more stuff, consider donating to a cause your friends and family care about in their name. Possibilities include a local animal shelter, environmental organization, or social justice group. The World Wildlife Fund has virtual gifts like “give a tiger a fighting chance” that protect a variety of animals, and you can gift a symbolic animal adoption, too. Through the Nature Conservancy you can “adopt an acre”—a symbolic gift that will help protect and restore threatened ecosystems.
Here is to a happy, green, and healthy holiday.
Modified from the original story HERE.
