I’m not a Grinch, but I’m tired of giving and receiving all this stuff. I also have a disease called “gift-giving angst”—and it’s spreading. Finding the perfect gift can be elusive and can backfire, too. The bright purple sweater might be well intentioned, but it’s just plain wrong. Too often we shelve gifts in our memories (we forget)—or in our closets.
What is my solution? Give greener gifts. Here are a few ideas:
- Give the Gift of Time. Busy parents need breaks from their children. Offer to baby-sit on a Saturday night so your friend can have a date with her partner. Bring dinner to parents and their children on a busy work night.
- Provide an Experience. A relaxing massage or spa treatment, a gourmet dinner in, a movie gift subscription to Netflix, or a gift membership to a local theater are no-brainers.
- Choose Consumables. Create a gift basket or tin with organic tea, fair trade coffee, and chocolate; or crackers, cheese, nuts, and wine. For the green thumb, find a hearty indoor plant at your local nursery.
- Consider Gifts that Keep Giving. Make a gift of a microloan through Kiva. At Changing the Present, find an organization or mission that you care about and start your own profile page. Check out Alternative Gifts International, Global Giving, your local Toys for Tots, or Our Voices Together.
- Express Yourself. You did it as a child, why not now? Take a photo or paint a picture. Write a story or design a family calendar. Knit a scarf. Make homemade hot fudge, truffles, peanut brittle, or cookies and place in bright jars or colorful tins. Build your own playlist from iTunes and give a customized album!
- Buy Local. Check out your local stores or small gift shops, which may have exactly what you need. Gifts made locally don’t require increased emissions from shipping. Give the gift of local food to your family by investing in CSA so the gift keeps on giving all year.
- Reduce and Reuse. Find goods through Freecycle and keep goods out of landfills. High-quality goods can often be found in antique shops, flea markets, vintage, and second-hand shops. These goods require just a little love. (An old toy can be repainted, a picture reframed, a tiny jewelry box can sparkle again.) Make gift-wrap part of the gift. Use the funny pages, new or old colorful scarves, funky dishtowels, cloth dinner napkins, or other decorative reusable products instead of wrapping paper.
- Think Safe and Sustainable Toys for Kids. Choose toys that are made from solid wood and non-toxic paint, and by local artisans, when possible. Check out Holgate Toys, ImagiPLAY, and Rosie Hippos.
- Give the Gift of Energy Efficiency. Opt for outdoor LED lights, which last ten times longer than incandescent light strings, and energy-efficient Christmas tree lights for indoors.
- Give Back to Your Country. Provide aid and comfort to deployed soldiers and their families through the Soldiers’ Angels program.
Related story: Saving the World, One Gift at a Time