Wouldn’t you love to give and receive truly thoughtful gifts this Festive Season?
Christmas festivities have become greatly commercialised with true traditions of gifting largely forgotten. Unethical manufacturing of masses of quickly made and cheaply produced products feed the great volume of Christmas gifting. The vast majority of these gifts either break or are thrown away without second thought to the destruction they have caused!
This is not the legacy we want our Christmas gifts to leave behind! The good news is that you can start changing that legacy with the gifts you give this Christmas! This Thoughtful Gift Guide is jam-packed with everything you need to know about giving ethical, eco-friendly and meaningful gifts this Christmas!
Read on to the end for links to our special collections of fabulous green gift ideas!
Beat the Consumerism
Consumerism is a big problem in our world today. It poses many threats to the environment, as well as the exploitation of human rights. By becoming more intentional with the gifts we buy (as well as what we buy overall) we can beat the consumer loop and avoid the unnecessary damage consumerism presents to society and the planet.
Keep it Close
Forget about meaningless bits and bobs for every person you know. Rather focus your intentions and attentions to those that you love and are special in your life.
Give it Meaning
When you’re giving gifts to those you love you want to make sure it’s something really special that they’ll love! Give gifts of meaning and go the extra mile to make it unique to them. Purchasing gifts is great, but what about making your own? Homemade gifts always have that extra bit of love in them and are sure to make the giftee feel extra special!
Wrap it with Love
Leave behind the shiny wrapping paper and glitzy ribbons. As pretty as these things are, they are also essentially single use and most of the time made from plastic or coated in a thin plastic layer. Not what you want your beautiful ethical gifts to be wrapped in! Luckily there are plenty of alternatives – think pretty fabric, lace, cloth gift bags, or upcycle some old newspapers and magazines to make your very own funky wrapping paper – be sure to recycle after use!
The Ethical Checks
When purchasing (or making!) your Christmas gifts, consider these quick checks as a simple guide for ensuring your gifts are aligned with your green values!
The Essentials
- No Cruelty – Make sure your gifts have not been tested on animals; don’t support child labour or unethical labour; have been made ethically.
- No Destruction – Make sure your gifts aren’t costing the planet an arm and a leg: mining for rare materials; unsustainable practices; resource exploitation.
- No Plastic – Avoid single use plastic and unnecessary packaging.
Additional Checks
- Vegetarian/Vegan – This ensures your gifts don’t support the exploitation of animals.
- Carbon Neutral – Find brands that have an action plan for their carbon emissions.
- Palm Oil Free – Check your ingredients and labels for this hidden ingredient.
- Organic – The ingredients and practices used to make your gifts are organic and don’t damage the planet.
- Local – Supporting local is always best!
- Handmade/Small Business – Support crafts and small businesses where you can!
- Fair Trade -Check that your gifts are made ethically with kindness for the planet and people.
It’s clear WHY we should be giving our Christmas Gifts some serious thought … Now let’s steer you in the direction of some fabulous ideas that tick the boxes!
Reusable, plastic free, eco friendly, people friendly, upcycled, local, handmade – you name it and we’ve got it!
