Sustainable Gift Guide For Holiday Season 2022
As the environment is a hot topic, no pun intended, why not create an environmentally friendly gift guide? Let’s be honest - most gift guides out there are “seen that, done that”. Stand out this Holiday season with sustainable, unique, and out-of-the-box gifts.
Vintage Fashion And Second Hand Home Items
Vintage and second-hand clothing is not only an environmentally friendly way to shop, but also a more sustainable way to spend money. And let's face it, it’s overall pretty cool. Think about it like owning a piece of history! Many vintage clothes are one-of-a-kind, making them even more special. Vintage pieces help give your outfit a unique spin, character and a story.
A great place to shop vintage and second hand clothes is your local resale shop. In Houston we are blessed with many options. Here are some of my favorites:
The Guild Shop, Houston Junior Forum Resale Shop, and Blue Bird Circle.
These shops are not only a great place to score a vintage find for clothes, but also items for the home.
Candles That Are Here To Stay
Candles are a lovely gift. The right candle can be a very thoughtful and memorable gift. It can also be a sustainable gift. There are many small businesses on Etsy offering vintage or antiques vessels for their candles. The best part is that once the candle burns out, you can refill it or you can add a lovely decorative piece to your home.
Holiday Hand Soap Kit
This is a perfect gift idea that minimizes waste and looks good on the kitchen counter. Inspired by the chocolate boxes of holidays past, the Holiday Hand Soap Kit contains all of Blueland’s seasonal hand soap scents with the option of a limited edition hand soap bottle and reusable tin. The only thing left to do is fill, drop, and pop the pretty bottle next to your kitchen sink.
Blueland company mission is to make eco-friendly options for your home more effective and accessible. Check them out for more gift ideas.
Experiences To Remember
Another fantastic gift idea that will minimize one's footprint on the planet is the gift of experience. A cooking class or a yearly pass to national parks are fantastic gift options that someone can appreciate for a lifetime. You could also sign a friend up for a garden plot in a local community garden, and provide a few seed packets to get them started. These are the gifts that keep on giving and don't have a negative impact on the environment.
To Wrap It Up…
Everyone enjoys unwrapping beautifully packaged gifts. However, that is probably one of the biggest source of holiday waste. All that “glitz and glitter” ends up in the trash shortly after. The good news is that you don't have to sacrifice beauty for sustainability. Here are some ideas to reduce the usage of packaging materials this Holiday season. First, consider reusing some old gift bags and even wrapping paper. Another idea is turning paper bags inside out and reusing them as wrapping paper. Even newspapers and old magazines can be a very neat and creative way to present a gift. One of my personal favorites is wrapping gifts in leftover scrap fabric. It always turns out very stunning and unique way to wrap a gift.
When wrapping your gifts, consider using ribbons made out of natural material. Ribbons made from cotton, linen, raffia, and other fibers derived from plants are eco-friendly. Their production process doesn't consume energy in excess, they don't require a ton of chemicals for this process, and they are essentially made from renewable natural resources.
Even if it isn’t easy, finding the perfect gift for your loved ones can be a lot of fun. The good news is that we live in a world of endless possibilities and a great green gift is a unique option that will impress your friends and family. Your planet will thank you for it!