Personalized Gift Ideas To Give Your Sustainable Friend
Giving gifts is a wonderful way to show you care, and it is well worth the time and effort to get it right, as a gift that is truly personal is the very best way to go. It is true, sometimes it is the thought that has to count as we don’t know the person well enough to be totally on target, but if that is the case I’d say go with sustainable and eco conscious gifts, as you really can’t go too wrong with lovely wooden brushes and handmade soap, or an interesting market bag! Have some friends and family or even coworkers that would appreciate sustainable gifts? Keep on reading so that you’ll have a bunch of good ideas up your sleeve when you need them!
Customized Cloth Shopping Bags
Plastic bags have been a huge part of our daily lives, but are wreaking havoc on our ecosystem. Fortunately there is a huge shift away from plastic bags, and so cloth shopping bags are a great gift, especially if you have personalized them. Truthfully a great looking fabric tote bag would be appreciated by anyone, especially if you adorn it with some great graphics or art. If you know how to paint, you can quite simply paint a picture on a bag, or you can even print a photo on a piece of iron-on photo paper. If you are looking for a more silk screened look, use freezer paper stenciling to apply shapes and letters to your heart’s content. Sometimes the very simplest idea will look the best on a bag, and the results will be more likely successful. Consider initials, a simple symbol, or a few words. And voila, a great gift is born!
Personalized Reusable Water Bottle
Switching from plastic to a reusable material for a water bottle is a great health conscious and sustainable idea. Using fewer resources, emitting less toxic gases, and protecting marine creatures and resources; are all ways reusable water bottles help the environment. Furthermore, a reusable aluminum water bottle and other kinds of sustainable materials such as bamboo and glass are among the most durable and long-lasting water containers. So, while glass water bottles are great for home use, and could be a nice gift, a reusable metal water bottle to use on the go would certainly be appreciated, as folks that use them would find it very convenient to have several.
Above: Newspaper coasters from paperhigh.com
Recycled Newspaper Coasters
Giving items your friend can use for their home would always be a great gift, and if you have a few extra hours on your hands, then you surely can craft creative homemade gifts for them! If you want to impress your sustainable friend, then try making some cool coasters made from recycled newspaper. Both the online and physical market offers newspaper coasters, but you can choose to make them yourself as well. Recycling things is a great practice, as is giving gifts, and combining the two is a true winner! So what are you waiting for? Start crafting, and while you are at it, make enough to have on hand for future gift giving.
Plantable Colored Pencil
Looking for a gift that is both eco-friendly and interesting for your artist/journaling friend? Colored pencils that can be planted when they become too small to use are all the rage. There are many options on the market today, and you can choose from a variety of vegetable and herbal plant seeds. The method of planting them is quite effortless, and certainly fun. Once the pencil is too short for use, the pencil should be planted, with the tip facing upwards, in a pot with soil and water. The seed bomb will activate, the seeds will begin to germinate, and sprouts will start to occur within 7-10 days. How fun is that ? Plus, there will be incentive to use those colored pencils in order to plant them!
Above: Natural bath products always make great gifts!
Eco-Friendly Bath Products
There are so many ways to go within this category, whether it be handmade soaps and lotions, bath bombs, essential oils, wooden and natural bristle grooming tools, and even organic cotton towels. And of course essential oil fragrance candles could also be added to the mix. A lovely wooden or woven basket filled with a sampling of items makes a gift that is both attractive and personal, and be sure to add some organic wash clothes or a natural sponge for that extra special touch.
Giving gifts that makes your friends and loved ones happy, and helps the environment is such a great feeling. Maybe you’ll even consider taking up knitting or crocheting to create some items with special organic cotton or other sustainable fiber? Go for it, there is no great feeling than avoiding commercialism and going natural when it comes to gift giving. You’ll never look back, promise!
