Dec 18, 2019
On today’s Green Gab, my guest is Kathy Curran. Kathy has been on an amazing journey to incrementally green her life, and now that the holidays are upon us, greening her gift-giving is her first order of business.
Sustainable Choices
It’s really important to understand where what you buy comes from. Most of us don’t need more stuff. Our homes are already packed to the gills with stuff we don’t need or use. So, as you buy gifts for others, it’s important to make sure that you understand where the products you are buying are coming from. If items have to travel a long way to reach you, that’s not sustainable. If the company you are buying from employs child labor, well, that’s not what you want to endorse. If the company that you are purchasing products from has a record of environmental violations, that’s also not a green choice. When it doubt, look for companies that have achieved B Corporation status. B stands for “benefit”. So they are companies that exist to benefit mankind, not just to solely turn a profit.
It’s not just what you buy, but who you are buying it from and where is it coming from that should play into our gift choices.
Local and Organic are Pretty Safe Choices
We have found some really unique gifts that allow us to make good environmental choices by shopping at local food purveyors. Staying regional with your purchases reduces the carbon footprint of your purchase. Many local food purveyors also have minimal packaging, and many of their products will be all-natural, organic, and made from sustainable crops. They also generally are not packed with the chemicals and preservatives that factory foods have.
Many green gift choices also support your local community and the business owners that serve your local community. Green gifts keep dollars working within your communities.
Give Experiences and not Stuff
We all have that person on our list who is impossible to shop for. They already have everything, don’t need anything, and yet, you still need to give them a gift. The best types of gifts for people like this is to focus on giving experiences, rather than stuff.
Some of our favorite experiences to give are:
Green Your Gift Wrapping
Gift wrap and all the packaging that goes into giving gifts is a huge source of waste. The more gifts you give, the more important it is for you to make greener choices with your gift wrap.
Some of our favorite ways to make gift wrapping greener are:
Simplify, Don’t Accumulate
One of the biggest gifts we can leave our children is to simplify your life and unburden yourself of all the stuff. They won’t want most of it and it only creates more work and waste to deal with generations of the stuff that we have in our lives.
The next generation doesn’t want to drag Grandma’s china to their 6 apartments in 3 cities before they get married and settle into a tiny house! So, instead of leaving a ton of stuff, we thing it’s a great idea to identify one special heirloom piece - a teacup, painting, letter, etc. that you want to be meaningful to that child. Then write out the heritage of that item and why it was special to you or Grandma, or Uncle Bob, and give them the one thing they can cherish, along with the documentation of the sentimental value to your family. It’s much more likely to be cherished and displayed with care, than an 88 piece set of china that no one has room to store and will never get used.
Resources Mentioned:
Gifts for Friends
Unique Journal with Laser-cut cover
Food Wraps – for lunches and food storage