Wondering what to get your eco conscious friend for Christmas? Or maybe your friend has been talking about possibly making some eco switches but hasn’t taken the plunge yet and you want to help them along with some gifts? Whatever the reason, here are some of the best eco friendly gifts you can give this year.
Give the Gift of Cloth
Reusable cloth products are one of the best eco friendly switches people can make.
And they can be so cute!
- Canvas Shopping Bags: Reusable and machine washable, that is a win-win. And canvas shopping bags can be found in endless colors and patterns so you are sure to be able to find something that will appeal to anyone.
- Hand Towels: This is another one that comes in endless colors and patterns to suit anyone. And, for many people, this isn’t really an eco switch because they are already doing it. But having more hand towels around is always a plus. And having plenty of hand towels around makes it much less likely that someone will resort to paper towels because they just aren’t in the mood to do laundry today and all the other towels are dirty.
- Cloth Napkins and Cloth “Paper” Towels: While hand towels in home bathrooms and near kitchen sinks are common, cloth “paper” towels are not. Yet the average household goes through 102 rolls of paper towels every year. Multiply that by the number of households in the world…. that is a very big number. Replacing paper towels with cloth is one of the best easy switches people can make. And most people have at least one set of cloth napkins at home. But, ironically, they often only come out for fancy occasions like Christmas dinner. That needs to change. Having cloth dinner napkin sets that are cute, but not so fancy as to only be used for special occasions, encourages people to use them more often. And that makes an excellent eco friendly Christmas gift.
- Waxed Cotton Food Storage Cloths or Bags: Waxed cotton is an excellent replacement for saranwrap and zip lock baggies. The wax makes it moldable, so it can cover open food containers the same way saranwrap does. And it is washable and reusable. Plus these also come in some really cute patterns. If you are a DIYer you can custom make these as gifts as well.
- Sustainable and/or organic clothing: The fashion industry is incredibly wasteful, pushing people to buy whole new wardrobes every year to keep up with trends. Most fabrics are semi recyclable (most can’t be made into new cloths, but the fibers can be reused for other things) but some cloths are made from plastic. Spandex for instance. Which incredibly comfortable, every time you wash spandex micro fibers of plastic end up washed into the water supply and the oceans. And other materials, such as cotton, tend to require a lot of chemicals to grow. Try looking instead at greener sources like hemp for clothing.
Give the Gift of Plastic Swaps
Throw away plastic is one of the biggest problems in the world. Plastic takes 1000 years to decompose. And yet we have endless one time, or short time, use plastic items out there. Switching these out for sustainable or longer use products makes a big difference.
- Reusable Straws: 500 millions straws are used EVERY DAY! That is a lot of straws. And sadly, most straws are made from recyclable materials. But they are too small to actually be recycled. Our oceans and waterways are clogged with discarded plastic straws. The problem is so bad that some places, like the entire State of Hawaii, have banned the use one disposable straws. Switching to reusable makes a big difference. And there are lots of different types of reusable to choose from. Metal, bamboo, silicone, glass, and I have even seen some made from noodles. And they are small enough to make great stocking stuffers.
- Plastic free alternatives: There are quite a few various products that are typically made from plastic and today you can find them made from sustainable resources instead. Things like: Bamboo toothbrushes, bamboo disposable silverware for take out, wooden hairbrushes, glass tupperware, wooden cooking utensils, toothpaste bites, laundry detergent ‘eggs’, shampoo bars, coconut fiber sponges, and more.
- Reusable water bottles: Plastic water bottles are another of the most commonly found trash items in the ocean and littered around the land. Assuming that each person drinks only one plastic bottle of water per day (though many people drink a lot more than that) having just one reusable water bottle instead would keep 365 plastic bottles per person out of the world each year. And these also come in lots of fun colors and patterns that make them great Christmas gifts.
- Reusable Coffee Cups: Many people, like me, just can’t get through the morning without coffee. And this is the reason why places like Starbucks are so huge. But each of those morning coffees comes with a disposable cup. And that is wasteful. Some coffee shops will allow you to use your own reusable mug. And and, of course, the more wallet friendly option is to make your own coffee at home and take it to go in a reusable to-go cup.
- Silicone Lids: Saran wrap and waxed paper are very wasteful. And people who cook a lot at home (which is a good thing) tend to go through a lot of it. For people who need a lot of food storage options, give the gift of silicone lids to take the place to that disposable plastic.
Healthy for You and the World Gifts
There are other types of eco, and human, friendly swaps that make for great Christmas gifts in addition to plastic and waste free alternative items.
- Essential oils instead of air fresheners: Here is a kicker for you… air fresheners are not good for you. Those wonderful scents that come from most air fresheners are actually chemicals. Some have been proven to be cancer causing. And others are made from hydro carbons (aka greenhouse gases). And the use of air fresheners actually makes your house more dusty because those airborne chemicals eventually dry out and settle. Essential oils on the other hand no not contain carcinogens, or hydrocarbons, and they don’t turn into dust. And so essential oils, and the diffusers to go with them, make for great sweet smelling Christmas gifts.
- Beeswax or soy candles instead of paraffin wax: Every year for Earth Day people are encouraged to turn off all the lights and use candles in honor of the Earth… But that plan kind of backfired. The cheapest and most readily aviable candles these days (in turn the ones most people have) are actually far worse for the environment than the lights they are supposed be replacing. Paraffin wax is a hydrocarbon. And when burned it turns immediately into greenhouse gasses. But beeswax and soy based candles are not made from hydrocarbons. They are natural and sustainably sources and as such are far better alternatives to standard candles.
- Tea diffusers: Turns out companies have been making tea bags with plastic for a long time. Microfiber plastic that diffuses into the tea water. There are also pesticides in most tea bags, and reside from the chlorine used to bleach those bags. Yummy… Loose leaf tea, and metal or ceramic diffusers to prepare it are a far healthier choice for people and the environment. Your tea loving friends will appreciate this one for Christmas. Especially if you tell them what’s really in those tea bags they have been drinking. And if your friend is looking for a little extra relaxation to go along with that tea, they can try out Tea Meditation too.
- Silicone baking mats: Parchment paper is wasteful, use it once for one batch of cookies then throw it away. Waxed paper is dangerous because the paraffin leaches into your food (and into the air) and traditional baking trays require lots of oil to prevent sticking. But silicone mats don’t do, or need, any of that. It is a long term use item that makes food healthier. Your home cooking friends will love these.
