Sustainable Gift Ideas for the Holidays – Part 1

Sustainable Gift Ideas for the Holidays – Part 1

by | Dec 9, 2020 | Holidays

The biggest way to be more sustainable during this highly wasteful holiday is to buy less stuff this year.  Make a commitment to buy fewer gifts overall this holiday season.   With the added financial pressure that many people are facing this year, this is a great consideration for the planet and our bank accounts.

  • buy less per person
  • do a name draw within your friend or family group so that you don’t have to buy for everyone
  • Presence not Presents
    • agree to no gifts, just spend time together (people may be relieved by not having as many gift obligations).  Ok, I realize this may be challenging; spending time together or travelling to be together may be restricted at this time.  However, get creative – zoom or phone calls can help us be “together” when we need to be apart.  Another idea is to have Christmas in January instead.

Here are some gift ideas to help you be kinder to the planet this holiday season.

Intangibles

In our family, have an overall theme to guide us with presents each year and in 2019 we chose Intangibles.  All of our gifts had to be things that you can’t hold.  This forced us to be creative in new ways.

Here are some of the intangibles we came up within our family:

  • ring tones/alarms (My son is a musician so he recorded original ring tones and alarms for all of us)
  • distillery and beer tour (We were headed to Canmore that January so it was a timely gift – they called it the Canmore Minivan Booze Cruise)
  • concert tickets (of course, these ended up being cancelled with the pandemic, but it’s the thought that counts!)
  • gift card for the floatplane – to get to Vancouver for the concerts
  • glass blowing experience

 

  • jesse-martini-Fqitf0RhKic-unsplash

custom ringtones by www.quinwithonen.com

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Donations

Choose a charity that is important to your loved one.  Make a donation in their name.  (We have done this for birthdays in the past – One time it was the North Island Wildlife Recovery Centre where you can adopt an animal.  They send you updates on that animal for the next year!)

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Second-hand

It would be great if we could normalize giving used items for gifts.  Manufacturing, packing and shipping new items continually puts a lot of strain on our planet.  Lots of great things already exist.  Call it vintage and it makes it cooler somehow!

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Local

I love that there has been a growing movement over the years to support local businesses.  It’s becoming an even larger focus this year during the pandemic when so many small businesses are struggling.  Supporting local keeps money in your community and it also helps reduce shipping products around our globe.  Small, local businesses need your support more than Amazon, Walmart, Costco, etc. so spend your money thoughtfully this season. (This is our family theme for gifts this year – Local Businesses only!  I’ll update this after the holidays with what we came up with.)

Shop local where you live

 

Time

Instead of more stuff, gift them with time.  Offer up some babysitting, chauffeuring, dog-walking or fix something that needs repair.   Be creative.  Time is more valuable than things!  The older you get the more you realize that.

Photo from Unsplash jon-tyson-FlHdnPO6dlw-unsplash

 

 

Want to make the holidays even more sustainable?  Here are some Christmas tree alternatives.

 

Five Ways To Reduce Your Plastic Use

Five Ways To Reduce Your Plastic Use

by | Nov 23, 2020 | Zilch Tips

If you are like me, you feel sad every time you have to put plastic into recycling.  As we know, very little of our intended recycling actually finds its way through the recycling process; most ends up in landfills.  Fortunately, there are many ways to reduce our plastic consumption.  Just start by choosing one, then adding another; you don’t have to be perfect, you just need to try.

Here are some sobering Canadian stats to keep you motivated:  https://oceana.ca/en/blog/canadas-plastic-problem-sorting-fact-fiction

Avoid Single-use Coffee Cups

* Take your own travel mug to the coffee shop; if they don’t let you use your own mug, consider not buying there.  Refuse is the first R.

* Enjoy your coffee inside the café and enjoy the ambiance and your to-stay mug.

* An even better idea is to make coffee at home and save the gas and the money.

Swap Shampoo and Liquid Soap for Bars

*  Shampoo, conditioner, and soap bars have very little or no packaging and you’ll be so happy when your recycling bin needs to go out less often.

Zilch offers shampoo and conditioner bars https://zilchboutique.com/product-category/hair-care/

Don’t Buy Fruits and Vegetables in Plastic Bags/Containers

*  When buying produce, opt for the loosely packed items, i.e. put mushrooms in a paper bag or buy loose potatoes rather than ones in a plastic bag.

*  Avoid pre-cut or pre-shredded veggies and just do it yourself at home.

*  Bring your own bags for produce, if allowed by the store, for all the loose fruits and veggies you purchase.

Ditch Your Disposable Razor and Go For a Safety Razor

*  Swap your razor for a reusable one or skip a razor altogether and pretend like it’s November all year long (or the 70s).  Safety razors have no plastic parts, and you can recycle the blade when you are done with it.  They last a LONG time – invest once, shave forever.

Find safety razors here https://zilchboutique.com/product-category/shaving-essentials/

Buy Used Instead of New

*  Buying used furniture and other household items helps avoid packaging and diverts items from the landfill.  As an example:  we are going to renovate our bathroom soon and I am looking for a used dresser or sidebar to fashion into a bathroom vanity/sink.  This way I haven’t contributed to the manufacturing of something new – the world just doesn’t need more stuff in it.  Also, everything new generally comes with an excessive amount of packaging. By buying used you avoid having to deal with all the plastic and cardboard (or even Styrofoam) waste at the end of your project.