Gift Ideas for a Living Planet

Around November every year is when I start stressing about the demands of gift giving at Christmas – not all of my friends and family appreciate the same things as I do! How to give them a gift they’ll appreciate while not crossing too far over my own moral boundaries?

If you too find yourself in this position, I hope to help you set your mind at rest with some great ideas for gifts that have less environmental and social impact – or hopefully even a positive impact. This list could go on forever – but hopefully it will spark some idea for you; please comment and add any ideas you have for your own Gift Ideas For a Living Planet to this post, we’d love you to share them! (this gorgeous Infographic courtesy of Gifting Owl)

Give an experience

Active day out – Tree Adventures is an absolutely exhilarating experience for kids and adults alike, or perhaps a family ticket to go Cherry Picking – there are several locations to choose from in Melbourne – there will be similar fruit picking activities wherever you liveTheatre anyone? Give a ticket or gift voucher with Melbourne Theatre Company or tickets to see Wind In The Willows in the botanic gardens with the Australian Shakespeare Company

Give them something living or some tools to help them grow living things

A plant, set of colourful flowers or gift certificate from your local nursery, a pot of living herbs you have grown to put on their window sill, combo of heritage seeds to grow or some packets of seeds you’ve grown and saved yourself, or a gardening bookto help them create an awesome garden.

Homemade goodies to eat and drink – or give them a kit and they can make it themselves!

Special home-made tea blends with reusable tea bags made just for them, a jar of jam, homemade sourkraut, cheese, preserved fruit, dehydrated fruit roll-ups in a variety of flavours. One of our daughters friends gave her a beautiful jar (scored from the op-shop I expect), filled with home made choc-chip bikkies for her birthday present – our daughter loved it!

Educational and inspirational books, magazines or workshops

A subscription to Earth Garden or Pip Magazine (for gardeners), Cosmos (adult science lovers), or Double Helix or Scientriffic (for young science lovers). There are heaps of DIY food books in our shop; something for everyone.

A membership to a local environmental group such as Local Food Connect, or a booking to one of Doris Pozzi’s Edible Weeds walks in Melbourne (or one of her books ‘Edible Weeds’)

Give them your time!

Is there something you can do that they need? Can you build them a compost bay? A chook shed? Do a weeding blitz of their garden at a time of their choice? Build them a wicking bed? Organise a working bee with a group of friends for your special friend? (what a beautiful birthday present!)

Reusable food and drink containers

When you want to do rubbish free lunches, it really helps to have good equipment! Bees Wax Waxed Food Wraps made in Melbourne, re-usable Food covers or Agreena silicone baking sheets sfor the baker, stainless steel food containers…the list goes on.

Gifts made from second hand or recycled materials

Snag a unique gift at your local op-shop, give them a purse made from recycled inner tube, an Upcycled inner tube Guitar Strap,  belt or a completely unique set of Frankensteins undies – made from upcycled scrap stretch materials.

Gifts to charities

These are for friends and family who are happy to in fact not receive anything, and have someone else receive the gift in their place. Examples are:

Care gifts – where you can buy thick blankets for a family ($46) or 50 bars of soap ($25), and many other things

We hope you have come away from this blog feeling a little less anxious about gift choices this year! Please share with us your own suggestions, we’d love to hear them.