Sustainable Gift Guide
As Christmas rounds the corner, many households are watching as their porches fill with delivery packages and their trash cans overflow with plastic bubble wrap. It is not uncommon to feel a certain guilt during the holiday season, a time when even the most well intentioned shopper falls prey to black friday flash sales and the consumerist pressures of gifting. In this article we aim to ease some of that guilt, by bringing awareness to brands and practices that can make your Christmas shopping more sustainable.
By: Nitya Sharma and Mallika Saoji
- Obviously, the best way to avoid hyperconsumerism is to simply not spend on material goods, but this can seem impossible when wanting to create a special Christmas experience for loved ones. However, there is a severely underutilized way to give a meaningful gift without creating waste; gift experiences rather than things. For example, your nature loving best friend would love a guided kayaking tour, or your music obsessed daughter would go bananas over tickets to her favorite concert. Gifting experiences such as these convey to the recipient how much you understand who they are and what they enjoy, and whatever you choose will certainly be a gift they will never forget.
Perhaps it isn’t the most realistic to exclusively gift experiences, particularly if the gift is for an acquaintance or someone whose schedule evades you. In this case, there are still many ways and brands to shop that can drastically reduce the waste created by holiday shopping;
- Firstly, try to shop local businesses as much as possible. You may have noticed an uptick in Amazon delivery trucks in the past month and that is no coincidence. Online shopping creates huge amounts of greenhouse gas emissions due to the energy that goes into heavy duty packaging and lengthy delivery distances. Shopping at local businesses not only avoids these harms, but also serves to strengthen small, local businesses who have found it hard to keep up with the rise of online shopping. A gift from a small business is oftentimes more unique than one from a larger brand and again conveys that level of thoughtfulness and care that makes a good gift so special.
oaklandish.com
One of my absolute favorite local businesses to give from is Oaklandish. They are a small but immensely popular apparel company located in Oakland that started as a movement to build civic pride. The founders of Oaklandish wanted to illuminate the culture and history of Oakland through their clothes and have yielded some epic designs in the process (some which have been repped by Warriors players). My mom and I always buy my cousins hoodies from Oaklandish for christmas and they love them. Oaklandish also donates a portion of their profits to local Bay Area nonprofits.
- Secondly, try to buy from sustainable companies. This is especially important in terms of production methods and materials. The less pollution an item creates, the better. Try and look for sustainable packaging, a clean and transparent ingredient list, and companies that state their production and values clearly. There are so many great brands out there nowadays that buying sustainable products does not have to feel like a compromise, and a lot of them are easily available too.
the7virtues.com
One area that is really popular for gifts are cosmetics and perfumes, however, a lot of these items have detrimental effects for the environment. One of my favorite alternatives are the perfumes from The 7 Virtues. They are vegan, sustainably sourced, and have a bunch of different options, from vanilla to floral to sandalwood scents, and many more. Their ingredients are clear, as are their sources, and their bottles are super cute! They have full-sized bottles for a more pricey gift, as well as rollerballs that are more affordable, and they are easily available at Sephora. Additionally, Sephora has a section for clean beauty, skincare, and fragrance, which have a variety of items which would be perfect for gifting.
https://www.sephora.com/beauty/clean-beauty-products
houseofmarley.com
For the people in your life that do not enjoy cosmetics or clothing, another great gift idea is something technology related. The brand House of Marley is a great sustainable technology company that makes items like headphones, speakers, and chargers, both wireless and not. These are items that everyone uses and would enjoy, and best of all, they are made with environmentally conscious materials. The site has plenty of information about the types of materials they use, like bamboo and recycled paper, and their commitment to sustainability, as they donate yearly to One Tree Planted.