Gift giving has become terribly commercialised with people giving presents without any thought of whether it will be cherished or even enjoyed by the recipient. But doesn’t it make more sense to give gifts that you know your friends and family will love and not contribute to the steadily increasing mountain of waste we already produce during the holiday season?
This year, why not try and go zero or as low waste as you can with your gift giving. Zero waste gifts are essentially those that are handmade, homemade, preloved, or items that help to reduce unnecessary disposable or plastic waste but are still things that the recipient will love.
If you have a friend who loves sports, adventure, movies or learning something new, then either of these suggestions would be well received: Concert or movie tickets, gym membership, dancing lessons, scuba lessons, a restaurant gift certificate a massage voucher or anything that gives the receiver an experience they would enjoy.
These suggestions would make a thoughtful gift for your eco-conscious or travel-loving friend: Stainless Steel Straws, Bamboo Travel Utensils, Cotton Produce Bags, Package Free Soap Solid Shampoo, Package Free Soap, Cloth Napkins or Hankies, Bee’s Wrap Reusable Wraps, Safety Razor, Bamboo Toothbrush, Reusable Coffee Cup, Organic Wool Dryer Balls, Reusable Cosmetic Rounds, seeds or a beautiful air purifying plant.
Organic wool dryer balls
If you love cooking or baking, whipping up a batch of homemade goodies would make a thoughtful and delicious gift for your foodie friends: Homemade candy, homemade cookies, homemade salsa, fruit and nut basket, homemade flavoured salts, homemade spice blends, DIY cookies in a jar, homemade jams or jellies, jar of trail mix or nuts or a loaf of fragrant homemade bread.
For everyone else, any of these suggestions would make a thoughtful, not to mention useful gift: Homemade lotion, homemade lip balm, sugar scrub, Vintage Jewelry, candles, a subscription to Netflix, local art or a one time or one month of cleaning services.
Great ideas. Thank you for your amazing post! 😉
Thank you so much for your kind comment. It’s hard not to just go out and buy something from the mall, but I realised that often we buy for the sake of buying and giving, without actually even thinking if the recipient will like it. If we could all take little steps to be less wasteful and more conscious of the impact of our actions, we could make a huge difference 😀
Agreed! <3
I love the idea of offering an experience instead of an object, it feels more personal and thoughtful as well 🙂 Thanks for the great list !
Exactly! An experience will always be remembered and can be such fun. So glad that you enjoyed the article 🙂