Joy to the World: Eco-Friendly Gifting

After a truly eventful and surprising year, it is finally time to begin the holiday celebrations and giving the perfect gifts will be a major part of this. If you’re like me, Christmas shopping can be a stressful activity, but everyone on our list deserves something special this year. Not to mention, there is something rewarding and heartwarming about giving a gift to someone when you have spent your time perfecting every detail of it. Regarding recent news about our changing climate and environment destruction, it has seemed like the events of this year were out of our control. However, this year has shown me that the power of change is in each of our hands. We can take actions to make sure that gift-giving this holiday season is as environmentally conscious as possible, which will have lasting effects in the years that follow. Whether you are new to green gifting like me or you are a certified green Christmas professional, this guide will offer tips for how to have an eco-friendly celebration. This is my gift to you.

Simplicity is the Key

Browsing through the internet for gift ideas for the family can make your head spin and make anyone feel overwhelmed in an instant. It seems like the options are endless and you don’t have enough time to make everything perfect between preparing the meal, shopping and decorating. If you take a step back, the best place to start is by simplifying the process with sustainability in mind. Not only do environmentally conscious gifting ideas help to save the planet, but they also make gift giving a bit easier since they eliminate some other options that may not be mindful of the planet. Eco-friendly options include:

• Biodegradable or recycled wrapping paper for gifts, like newspaper or brown paper (with personalized decorations)
• Binding gifts with twine or ribbons and/or folding them to avoid using tape
• Placing gifts into artfully decorated baskets or handmade stockings
• Making or ordering handmade gifts over mass produced gifts, for example, hand-woven winter gear, all-natural handmade hygiene products, naturally sourced Christmas sweet treats and more
• Ordering gifts and products that have made the Climate Pledge [1]
• Thrift shopping instead of buying new products
• Supporting small businesses like Etsy, World Market, Poshmark, Seeker & Slade and more

These options and others can help you take your sustainable holiday to the next level and clean up our planet in the process. Not to mention, they will look beautiful throughout your home, they will help you save money and offer you some ways to do good deeds for the year.

Red Looks Best with Lots of Green

Along with sustainable gifting, holiday decorations are another way for households to celebrate this Christmas with the planet in mind. Christmas tree decorating, for example, is a great place to start thinking about the Earth. This is the first year that I began to question where my Christmas tree comes from and how it affects the environment. According to a 2019 article, about three-fourths of American households display artificial Christmas trees, but people may not know about the lasting effects that an artificial tree can have on the environment. These effects include the plastic production, the infamous carbon-footprint left behind from manufacturing and shipment, and the waste that is produced by non-biodegradable artificial trees when they are discarded. Alternatively, a real tree that is grown locally is replaced by more trees when harvested, can be turned into mulch when discarded and a real tree contributes to lowering carbon dioxide emissions when still planted [2]. Another environmentally conscious approach to decorating is purchasing natural wreaths and pine garland. If you already have an artificial tree but you want your home to be filled with festive holiday decor, garlands made from pine branches can be a beautiful sight, and it is environmentally friendly. While it may seem more practical to have an artificial tree waiting in the attic until the holiday season comes along, making the change to a natural Christmas tree and decorations can be helpful for the planet, which is a gift in itself.

Giving Back to the Planet and to All

Whether you have already made your final plans for the holiday celebrations or you are still in the process, I encourage you to try some items that I previously discussed. When it comes to giving the best gifts, we have the power to make the best choices in the name of planet conservation. The greatest options for gifting this holiday season will make the process easier for you by narrowing down your choices, which starts with sustainability. Another benefit of environmentally conscious gifting is the ripple effect. Instead of contributing to the problem of increasing plastic in landfills and wasting materials, you can be part of the solution by eliminating waste in your household and supporting small businesses. Your actions will help one person who will help another, and so on. This will also encourage others to do the same, which will make green efforts bigger and bigger until there are vast improvements to our planet. Being part of the solution to clean the planet is a gift to people everywhere. If we all do our part, we can get closer to the clean and green world we want to see, and we can begin now.

Happy Holidays!