Eco Gifts are a great alternative to traditional gifts for birthdays and special occasions, with the added benefit that your gift will be helping to save the planet.
Finding the right gift for someone can be a seemingly impossible task – especially if you don’t know the person you’re buying for very well, or haven’t seen them for a while. And some people seem to be unhappy with whatever you buy them. Sometimes this can make the whole process of trading gifts feel like a waste of time – you might as well of spent the money on yourself and got something you wanted. Every year thousands of people buy gifts for relatives they hardly ever see and they have very little idea what that relative really wants. Many people now simply send money in a card. But a gift is more fun and interesting than money, especially if you are able to pleasantly surprise someone.
Christmas time can be a very wasteful time of year. Wrapping paper, deliveries, presents that people never use that eventually get chucked away. All these things have a massive impact on the environment. They cause greenhouse gas emissions, they massively increase waste input into landfills. And they use massive amounts of non-renewable energy resources that pollute our atmosphere and environments.
Plastic toy manufacture often has a negative impact on the environment – the materials are almost entirely oil based and are often shipped from hundreds, if not thousands of miles away.
This doesn’t stop us from celebrating the festive period, so what can we do to make it less wasteful?
When you come to start writing your Christmas list this year, or start thinking about buying birthday presents for relatives you don’t see that often, why not give an eco-friendly gift?
Eco-friendly gifts have a three-fold benefit. They are often quirky, fun and interesting making them great gifts. They also have less impact on the environment. And they pass on a green message. By increasing the popularity of eco-friendly products you are helping make the world a better place – less wasteful and more environmentally friendly.
Why not try wrapping your gifts in recycled wrapping paper? And when delivering them try to deliver them to as few addresses as possible – for example if you know that a lot of people on your Christmas gift list are having Christmas dinner together, get all the gifts delivered to that address. You can always leave a message in cards explaining that the present will be waiting for the person on Christmas day under the tree at the house they are visiting for Christmas dinner.
By choosing to buy eco-friendly products as gifts you are effectively making a vote for sustainable business. The more votes that are made the more businesses will try to act in a sustainable fashion.
Christmas time is a good opportunity to show that you care about the environment and that you are proving it by reducing your impact on the environment. Why not see if you can pass on a green message by purchasing an eco-friendly gift this Christmas?