Sustainable holiday gifting

​Are you someone who hopes to shop a little less this year, to save money, to refocus on meaningful gifts, or to make the holidays more environmentally sustainable? For those who are trying to gift differently, we wanted to share a few of our favorite gift giving strategies for making a difference this holiday season!  
 
#Giving Tuesday - make a donation to a nonprofit organization in honor of your loved one and let them know by email or in a holiday card. For example, Engage Globally would love your help with building a new, environmentally themed learning center in rural Northern Ghana! Donate here -- Engage Globally – and we will email you this gift card insert for your loved one!  

Gift outdoor conservation – We love to support nature and to spend time outdoors with our friends and family. One of our favorite gifts is the Annual National Parks Pass, which comes with great educational information about U.S. Parks. If you already have national park passes, consider a state or local park pass.
 
Gift time together – The last two years have been a challenging reminder of how valuable time with our loved ones is. Gifts that share time and experiences can be especially meaningful (and helpful to local arts, culture, and businesses). Many of these gifts support local arts, historical preservation, and community-building.

• Tickets to a museum or cultural center exhibit
• Museum or culture center membership, such as a Smithsonian Museum Membership
• Tickets to a play or show
• Local restaurant gift certificate

 
Create your gifts – remember when you were little and you handmade cards, pictures, and other gifts for your family? Personally created gifts never go out of style. Some ‘adult’ versions include:

• Cook someone their favorite meal
• Have a community neighbor cookie exchange
• Print photos of shared moments
• Plant a native pollinator friendly plant and decorate the pot for the holidays
• Make your own pottery or painting at a local art store

 
Look for gifts to reuse or upcycle – secondhand stores, yard sales, and online resale sites are all great ways to select a personal and meaningful gift for a loved one. You can save money, reduce environmental impacts, and have lots of fun exploring these treasures. For more ideas see this great article from the New York Times.
 
Need a gift for a child? These are some of our favorites

• World Wildlife Fund symbolic species adoption – comes with a cute stuffed animal and educational packet
• National Geographic for Kids – This is a year-long gift and you can choose from early reader and older child versions, digital or print. 
• Ranger Rick magazine - National Wildlife Federation offers several versions of its monthly magazine and wildlife themed books for children.

 
Need a gift for a teen? We love 4Ocean’s upcycled plastic water bottles, bracelets and other products. Purchase of each item funds removal of plastic from beaches and oceans.
 
We hope you found these suggestions useful. Please let us know if you used any of these ideas below. And, if you have other sustainable gift giving suggestions, we would love to hear them!