Last-minute gifts for your eco-conscious friend
The holidays are just days away, but there’s always time to keep environmentally-friendly gifts in mind for your most eco-conscious friends and relatives. While gifting may seem like the opposite of an eco-friendly life, there’s something to be said for providing a gift that will help someone live their best life.
The key is to consider something that will make that person’s life easier, or fill a need they have. Here are some suggestions to get you started.
Paper towel replacements
A must-have for the kitchen of the person who wants to stop wasting paper towels. These cloths are easy to clean, absorb a lot and come in a variety of decor options. Some good choices: $9.95 for a plain pack of cloths from your local big box store, $6.95 each for a handful of beautiful designs at Three Blue Birds, or $10 for a set of four cloths at Food52.
A back-to-basics laundry set
A good way to save energy on dryers, and take better care of delicate fabrics, all you need to start a environmentally-friendly laundry set is a line and some clothes pins, or a drying rack. A large clothing drying rack goes for $129 from a homemade wood shop on Etsy, or a 50-pack of natural wooden clothes pins and a 40-foot retractable laundry line from Home Depot are also an option.
Tea kettles for every preference
For a calm, easy start to the day, you can’t go wrong with a personal tea service. For the design-lover in your life, Caraway offers this beautiful $195 kettle and Food52 has this stainless steel retro version on sale for $49.99. This $17 simple version includes a tea strainer.
Compost bins for beginners
Compost bins can be tricky to buy because there are so many versions with many options. For those new to composting, this tumbler version does it all for $82. This $24 metal composting container is small enough to keep in your kitchen for fast waste removal and sorting. Or, for $49 try a compost container that is designed to sit right on your counter, with a lid heavy enough to mask scents and odors.
A plant grow light
With winter upon us, it’s time to bring your plants outside if you live in an area that gets frost. To mimic the sensation of sun for your green babies, try a grow light, like this two-pack from AeroGarden. Or you can pick up a grow bulb and place it in your own lamp.
A new sweater of recyclable fabrics
Whether it’s getting cold outside, or getting cold inside (due to air conditioning, you lucky warm-weather people), it’s sweater season. A new, eco-conscious sweater is a cozy gift that can also fill a need. This chic version is made with 100% recycled polyester with six choices of colors. Naadam offers a 50% merino wool and 50% recycled polyester lightweight polo knit. Or, you can try a hemp hoodie supplemented with organic cotton.
Earth-friendly face masks
Because the pandemic is not over yet, and the hygiene we learned during the last few years should stick around. United By Blue creates masks of recycled cotton and hemp, and part of every purchase goes toward community trash cleanups. On Etsy there are an assortment of reusable, washable masks made from organic fabrics.
Stocking stuffers for everyone
Need something that could be useful for anyone on the list? This sunflower grow kit is a gift and an activity that gives back every year when your flowers bloom. A solar-powered phone charger works with both Apple and Android devices. Or you can symbolically adopt an animal from the WWF and get an adoption certificate and plushy of an octopus, peacock or other choice of favorite beast.
This story was originally published December 22, 2022 at 11:07 AM with the headline "Last-minute gifts for your eco-conscious friend."
