The winter holiday shopping bonanza has begun once again, and your head is probably already starting to spin as the length of your shopping list gets longer & longer. Behind the mixture of cheerfully colored ads, sparkles and lights is this nagging dread – if you’ll truly be able satisfy your family and friends with your gift-giving choices.

Sometimes I worry that the gifts I give are seen as a direct reflection of my love for that person – which only raises the stakes even higher. But I have found that there is one save-all solution for this holiday conundrum: don’t buy new things – the notion behind green gift-giving. The monetary value of a present does not represent the sentimental value of your love; giving your loved ones something intangible – your presence, an experience, or a personalized craft (even from material that you already own) – can be so much more rewarding for you and meaningful for them.

The Urgent Need to Give Greener Gifts

Not only is a personalized, homemade gift more thoughtful than a Paypal-ed Amazon purchase, but it is an incredibly considerate way to be more environmentally conscious. During the holiday season, people produce 25% more waste – and in the US alone, this waste equals up to an extra 25 million tonnes of waste a year. Christmas trees, plastic packaging, greeting cards, mass-produced clothing, and plastic manufactured toys are unfortunately quite wasteful items that take a huge toll on the environment with each passing year. What’s more, research shows that approximately 40% of the toys bought as presents will break after only 3 months of play

Statistically speaking, the period leading up to and during Christmas is the most ecologically damaging.

There are, however, ways to reduce our impact while retaining the festive spirit!

Green Gift Ideas and #NoMoreStuff

Those among the green living community have taken notice of the major eco-footprint that’s left after every holiday season, and because of it, they have encouraged various methods of avoiding such unnecessary waste. The slogan “#NoMoreStuff” speaks for itself and lends much inspiration. I’ve been a long-time crafty gift-giver, and my family has fondly come to know me for it. When I was about 12 years old, I used an old diary to make a cookbook for my uncle – he’s a real foodie. I wrote some of our favorite family recipes in it, and I honestly have never seen him smile like he did when he received it.

There are so many creative ways of giving gifts that cause little or zero waste:

• The Experience
  One obvious but often overlooked method is giving someone the gift of an experience. This can come in the form of concert tickets, planned day trips, or a membership to their favorite museum.
• The Re-gift
  Another option is the often tabooed concept of re-gifting. For example (and now hear me out): people have so many beloved books that just sit on their shelf after having been read. What about dusting off one of your favorite books and giving it to a loved one, with a heartfelt inscription inside? Personally, I’d find that nicer than getting an unused book from the store – then a lot of the sentimental value is missing.
• The DIY
  A third and rather charming option is to go the DIY route. I think there are all sorts of easy crafts that you could make from things that you’d already find in your house, e.g. scented pillows made from lavender & rice stuffed inside an old t-shirt. Repurposing candle wax into old tea cups, or collecting seashells are a couple other funky choices. One more simple DIY gift that will leave the receiver beautified is a homemade coffee scrub. Put the mixture in a cute mason jar and call it a wrap!
• The Charitable Option
  One of the most ethical choices you could make this holiday season would be to give the gift of a charity donation in someone’s name, or by becoming patron to sustainably-minded companies.

The value of the holidays isn’t in the material possessions that we give & receive, but in the way we make & take time to show the ones we love that we truly care. I think that the most memorable gifts aren’t the ones that can just be purchased with the swipe of the credit card, but those that require a bit more of our time & effort. So take the greener path this holiday season: your wallet, your loved ones, and the Earth will thank you for it.

What’s the best green gift you’ve ever given or received? Inspire us in the comments below!

Happy holidays from us at Amazingy!

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Editor’s note: Originally published in December 2015 and reposted in December 2018 for accuracy.

Sources:
Holiday waste prevention 
The environmental price of Christmas
Christmas, the most wasteful time of year