Conscious Gift Guide for Any Budget
December is one of my favorite months. To me it means time spent with family, Capricorn season (aka my BIRTHDAY), holiday decorations, festive music, and most importantly, presents!
During the holidays I spend hours and hours trying to pick something thoughtful, exciting, and useful for all my family and friends. I want the gifts I give to show that I listen and care, and I never want a gift I give to gather dust in their closet or worse get thrown in the trash.
Gifts are my love language, and I truly believe that the perfect present can make you feel seen and loved! However, gift giving inevitably means more packaging, waste, transportation emissions, and a whole bunch of other negative side effects. This year I wanted to still give gifts, but this time with an eco-friendly, ethical, and responsible twist. I came up with so many wonderful gift ideas that I wanted to share what I found with all of you!
The gifts below range from sustainable companies, products for a sustainable lifestyle, cool gifts that won't get thrown away, and companies with a mission to do good! None of these products or links are sponsored, and I want to share them because I genuinely like them.
Gifts for the person who has everything
1. Give a donation in their name! ($-$$$)
Every year I have so much trouble trying to decide what to get my dad for Christmas, and lately I have been very into gifting him a donation to a cause he cares about! My dad is from Malaysia and he believes in the power of education, so last year I donated in his name to Teach For Malaysia. I love this gif because the options are infinite. You can donate to ending gun violence, to finding a cure for Cystic Fibrosis, to a podcast or museum they really like, to a political campaign, to ending hunger, to disaster relief, to wildlife conservation, to sustaining national parks, and the list goes on!
2. Adopt something ($$-$$$)
There are lots of wonderful organizations that let you "adopt" something! Last year my little sister adopted a koala in Australia for my mom, and the money went towards the rescue and treatment of sick and injured koalas so they can be released back to their home range where possible. You can also adopt an olive tree! Your money goes towards growing an olive tree with sustainable farming practices, and during harvest season you get your own bottle of olive oil from your adopted tree.
3. Kiva Microloan ($-$$$$)
"More than 1.7 billion people around the world are unbanked and can’t access the financial services they need. Kiva is an international nonprofit, with a mission to expand financial access to help underserved communities thrive. We do this by crowdfunding loans and unlocking capital for the underserved, improving the quality and cost of financial services, and addressing the underlying barriers to financial access around the world." By gifting a Kiva microloan, the person receiving the gift can choose from a long list of people looking to fund school tuition, small businesses, work equipment, emergency care and more. The magic about gifting a microloan also means this gift lasts forever! Once the chosen loan is paid off, the gift receiver can choose to loan that same amount of money to someone else!
4. Title of Lord or Lady ($32)
Make your gift recipient a Lord or Lady by gifting five square feet of dedicated estate land by Coniston Water within the Lake District National Park in the UK! Your gift receiver now has the legal rights to the title of Lord or Lady. I think this idea is hysterical, and I gifted it to my dad a little while back.
Gifts for the person who wants to live sustainably
5. Plants ($-$$)
Plants are awesome because they clean our air, give us oxygen, and brighten up our living spaces. Gift a Peace Lily from your local nursery, a seasonal plant from the grocery store, or some succulents off of Amazon.
6. Plant Trees in their Name with the National Forest Foundation ($-$$$$)
“Plant trees in a loved one's honor and know that your gift will help combat climate change and support forests for future generations.” Each dollar plants one tree in a US forest.
7. Guppy Friend ($29.75)
Microplastics are very small pieces of plastic that pollute the environment, and they are now invading our drinking water supply. A huge way that microplastics end up in our water is from washing clothes made of plastic! Clothing made from polyester, nylon, acrylic, microfiber, and recycled water bottles all shed tiny little pieces of plastic every time they get washed. If you put all your clothes made of plastic into a Guppy Friend before washing, the Guppy Friend will actually catch microplastics and stop them from going into our water!
8. Bamboo Cutlery Set from the Package Free Shop ($14.95)
If your friend is always eating on the go, gift them a reusable utensil set! They will finally be able to stop throwing out one use plastic forks and spoons. The Package Free Shop sells a good one made from sustainable bamboo.
9. Reusable Water Bottle with Filter from Brita ($24.99)
Using a reusable water bottle is one of the simplest things we can all do to be sustainable, and if you have access to clean drinking water, this is a no brainer. Yet, I still see so many people drinking from one use water bottles! If your gift recipient only likes the taste of filtered water, gift them a water bottle from Brita that comes with a filter!
10. Reusable Boba Cup ($20.99)
This gift is for the boba addict in your life. Now they can sip their boba guilt free while drinking from this adorable cup! It comes in a bunch of different colors and materials.
11. Bokashi Odorless Composter ($55)
If the sustainability queen in your life is ready to take it up a notch, gift them an indoor composter! This odorless indoor composting system ferments and pickles food waste in less than half the time of conventional composting methods using the Japanese method of Bokashi.
12. Period-Proof Underwear by Thinx ($34)
This is another gift for the sustainability queen in your life who wants to take it up a notch. Give them the gift of a zero waste period!
Gifts from Sustainable/Ethical Companies
13. Reformation Gift Card ($-$$$$)
Gift the fashion addict in your life a gift card to Reformation, a company that prides themselves on their sustainability. They are known for their jeans and dresses, and a gift card lets your gift recipient pick their own size and style.
14. Recycled Fleece Down Jacket from Patagonia ($279)
Looking like a teddy bear is in, and now you can give the gift of coziness with this 100% recycled polyester and down sherpa fleece down coat from Patagonia! Patagonia is known for their commitment to corporate responsibility and dedication to sustainability, and you can even check out the supply chain of how this coat was made!
15. Glove Boot Reknit from Everlane ($155)
I am obsessed with these gorgeous boots made from water bottles from another sustainable and ethical company. I don't own these, but they are definitely on my wish list. If the person on your gift list doesn’t want them, you can get it for me.
16. Vintage Jewelry ($-$$$$)
When you buy secondhand, you give new life to something that has been discarded. I love everything secondhand, but I especially love vintage jewelry. Vintage jewelry has this alluring magic to it, and it makes me daydream about the lives of those who use to wear such a beautiful pair of earrings or necklace. Get the vintage lover in your life some new jewelry from a local thrift shop, Etsy, the RealReal, or a nearby vintage boutique
17. United by Blue Weekender ($98)
This versatile weekender bag that uses recycled polyester is from United by Blue, a sustainable outdoor apparel company that removes one pound of trash from the earth's ocean for every product purchased.
Gifts that are Easy on the Wallet
18. Gift an experience! ($-$$$$)
My friend Isaac is an uncle to a gaggle of little kids, and instead of buying all of them an individual gift, he treats them all to a trip to the movies every year around Christmas. I thought this gift idea was adorable and wanted to share! This idea can be applied to taking a friend out to coffee or gifting a loved one to a special meal. This gift can also be adjusted to any budget!
19. A handmade drawing ($)
Put your creativity to the test by gifting someone an original piece of art. Clay once drew me a map of a special adventure we took to the Indiana Dunes, and it is one of my favorite gifts I've ever received.
20. Decorate a dollar store frame and put a photo of you two in it ($)
I tried this once and I loved it! I got some cheap $1 frames and collaged/painted a pretty design on them. Then I developed photos at Walgreens and put them inside. The end result was pretty cute.
21. Bake a dessert ($)
Bake a batch of cookies or vegan brownies, and you now have a special gift for a bunch of people!