- Amy Broomhead
- 18th December 2019
Tis the season and like the rest of us you may be panicking about finding Christmas gifts for your family, friends, significant other, or work secret Santa. However instead of running around your local shopping centre or frantically searching online, take a step back and maybe consider some ethical, sustainable and potentially easier options.
In this blog I’m going to give you a few ides for ethical and sustainable gifts for your loved ones.
- Cooking a meal for a loved is a very special event. Putting time and effort into buying ingredients, preparing and cooking a meal they enjoy really pushes the boat out, and shows them that you care. Using ingredients which are seasonal and have been locally sourced, is a way to ensure that the carbon footprint of your meal is low and is also supporting local farmers. Plus, all this can be done from the comfort of your own home.
- Sticking with the foodie theme, if you have someone in your life who loves veggies or struggles to find locally grown veggies you could buy a veggie box subscription. There are so many local farmers and local green grocers who will box up a selection of seasonal fruit and vegetables every week and deliver them (more often than not by bike) to your door. The joy of this gift is that it is sustainable, again it will help local farmers and it’s a healthy gift to get your loved ones their veggie fix!
- If you went anywhere near Twitter this black Friday, you will have seen the hashtag #buyrefurbished trending. And you know what, it’s a really good idea. The manufacturing of technology uses a lot of minerals like, tantalum, tungsten and gold. These minerals are mined for in countries where corrupt governments exploit miners. By buying refurbished technology you are helping to lower the demand for these minerals and thus helping reduce the exploitation.
- How else can you stay out of the loop of using raw materials for your Christmas purchases? Buying second-hand! Charity shops, antiques shops, eBay, second-hand fashion sites. They’re all there offering little gems and most of the time they’re a fraction of the price that they would be new. Bag your significant other a designer bag or beautiful antique tea set for your Mum. Buying second-hand is a great way to give items a new lease of life and be more sustainable with your gifting.
- If you were considering buying someone in your life a pet for Christmas, consider instead adopting a pet from a shelter. Charities like the RSPCA have so many animals that need a good home. From smaller animals like rabbits and cats to much larger animals like donkeys and horses, these animal welfare shelters are always looking for loving homes to adopt. If you are not in a position to adopt an animal a great gift is a donation on behalf of your friend or relative to the charity of your choice.
Hopefully this blog will have given you a few ideas for more ethical and sustainable Christmas gifts.
Buy responsibly and have a merry Christmas
Tweet