Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year, but it’s also incredibly wasteful. Thankfully there’s still a slow but steady rise in the demand of experiences over stuff, but can we do more? If you’re about to embark on a pre-Christmas shopping spree, here’s a few eco-friendly gift ideas to spark your imagination.

CHRISTMAS PRESENTS - THE FACTS

We receive over 60 million unwanted Christmas presents in the UK every year.

Around 30 million of these are not returned, and one in 10 are expected to end up in landfill.

ECO FRIENDLY GIFTS FOR ADULTS

ARTIVISM:
There’s loads of wonderful collaborations with brands and charities, including this one with the The Guardian and Friends of the Earth, who have to released a series of activism- inspired prints this Christmas. More than half of profits are donated back to Friends of the Earth.

DONATIONS:
If you don’t need anything for Christmas but family and friends are insisting that they have to buy for you, ask them to make a donation to a charitable cause.

Here’s a few ideas:
Adopt and orphaned elephant with David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust (my foster son is called Jasiri and I adore getting my monthly updates).
WWF has penguin or polar bear adoption programmes and other organisations like Cool Earth are doing a lot of work on climate change through deforestation initiatives with local communities. Perhaps you want to support something environmental? The non-profit I set up, Plastic Patrol, puts all donations towards our clean up efforts globally. Or help lift African families out of poverty and use the money you’d spend on a present to donate chickens to a community in rural Africa through the Send a Cow charity.

REFURBISHED TECH:
ignore the stigma, refurbished and pre-owned tech or devices are the way forward. Not only does it save a shed load of cash, it’s so much better for the environment than buying new. For example, a brand spanker of an iPhone X will have produced the equivalent of 79 kg of carbon dioxide emissions during its compilation. 80 percent of energy comes from the production, while about 15 percent is down to usage over the 18 months people usually keep their phone before replacing it. Refurbished tech looks almost identical to brand new and usually comes with a manufactures warranty too for extra peace of mind, so there’s literally no excuse.

GO PLASTIC FREE:
it’s a lovely idea to gift people with plastic free, zero waste alternatives but these are only sustainable if they are actually needed. Swapping one perfectly useable item for another one made more sustainably doesn't make it better for the environment. Every single purchase comes with an environmental cost, so choose wisely. Sustainability is only sustainable when its replace something that no longer works, otherwise it’s still an act of unnecessary consumerism. The Kind Store has lots of great ideas from skincare, toiletries, jewellery and homeware - all zero waste, all vegan and all ethical. Give the gift of green for another plastic free present idea - house plants. Patch Plants has a huge selection and offers a delivery service.

ACTS OF KINDNESS:
Love doesn't have to be displayed in the form of material things, consider offering something equally thoughtful but less environmentally impactful buy exchanging Kindness vouchers instead of gifts. You choose what you’re willing to offer - wash up the dishes for a week, play taxi driver after a night out or offer to do the gardening. Download a template here, or go a step further and make your own voucher for an extra personal touch.

SUBSCRIPTIONS: Spotify, Audible, Netflix, Patreon - they are all subscription services for content and are always welcome. They save the waste generated by physical gifts and with the breadth of content available digitally, it’s easy to tailor choices specifically to the interest of loved on.