It’s easy to get caught up in the consumerist lifestyle these days. With ads everywhere you turn urging you to buy the latest and newest toy or gadget, staying true to your own principles of sustainability can be difficult. To help, we’re pulled together a little checklist of ideas to use when you’re ready to pull out your credit card for holiday shopping. They’re not all going to be specific gifts. Instead, we’re focusing on the types of presents that might put a smile on their face and yours.
You likely saw this one coming, but it really just never gets old. Making a donation in someone else’s name is the perfect gift for those who ‘have it all.’ Plus, you can personalize the donation recipient to each person on your list. Children might love getting a thank you card from the Humane Society. Veterans in the family may appreciate an Honor Gift to the Wounded Warrior Project. Women may love knowing that your gift encourages girls in STEM education. What matters most to them? Supporting a charity they love is a sustainable gift for everyone involved.
Go Green (and Kind)
When we say sustainable, the first thing that comes to mind is likely eco-friendly gifts. One way to interpret this is to buy items made of recycled or sustainably sourced materials. At WHYSgiving, we also take pride in our transparency about the manufacturing process. Inexpensive gifts that rely on fast fashion or unethically sourced materials . Don’t fall for the gimmicks and impossibly small price tags. The true cost of these gifts is terrible.
Gifts can help encourage better habits by making certain acts easier. A rack for air drying clothes is a great example of this. Fabric towels can help replace the use of disposable paper versions. Same goes for napkins, too. And shopping bags. High quality glass storage containers can both replace plastic bags as well as help people use their leftover food instead of tossing it. If you’re committed to a certain eating style for sustainability, a cookbook would be perfect.
Make It Fun
We’re not saying that your gifts all need to have the ring of an Ethics classroom lecture. There are fun items like contained ecosystem kits that can help people of any age develop an appreciation for the environment. Perhaps the gift is a vegan cooking class you can take together. It’s time to get creative!