Looking for inspiration for eco friendly Christmas gifts for your partner, children, parent or friend?
2021 was another year of Covid, Covid, Covid and a bit of climate change.
Unfortunately sustainable living and regulation has not been at the top of the agenda for media, politicians and regulators.
This makes our personal choices and non-profits pushing for change even more important. We cannot wait for regulation to happen.
To achieve change we need innovation in terms of products and solutions that are sustainable and better than what we already have. Instead of giving up the vacation travel plans what if there was an environmentally friendly way?
We asked the team at TAPP to share their tips. The result is this 2021 eco friendly christmas gift guide with products and experiences that make it effortless, enjoyable and rewarding to live a sustainable life.
Eco-friendly Christmas Gifts for Transportation
A great start to living more sustainable is avoiding the gasoline sucking car. Here are a couple of great gifts for alternative transportation means.
1. Rain gear for cycling
Bicycle in the warm season and car during the cold and rainy season. There are incredible rain coats and pants for bicycling that take away any excuses. Great to get around and for exercise.
Bikesmart has a great guide to rain gear:
2. Sustainable Shoes
With comfortable shoes and a bit of time you can walk almost anywhere. Best of it all, there are many shoes now made of sustainable materials now. We like to support the smaller companies making shoes out of ocean plastics, compostable materials, organic cotton, ethically sourced materials and more. Here’s a great list to start from:
http://www.bettershoes.org/brands
3. Bicycle
Most people will benefit from a bicycle and nowadays there are great foldable and normal bicycles for every-day use and in all price ranges. Bicycling has a great starting guide to choose a bicycle for your partner, child or friend: https://www.bicycling.com/bikes-gear/a20023052/bike-buying-tips/
4. Electric scooter
Yes, they can be annoying but for many people an electrical scooter is a fantastic way of getting around. Affordable, flexible, portable and fast. It’s a fun and useful Christmas gift.
https://www.tomsguide.com/best-picks/best-electric-scooters
Even better. Give credits to an electrical scooter / motorcycle service such as eCooltra!
Note that the battery is an environmental hazard so make sure it’s properly disposed end of life.
5. A fully electric car for Christmas
If you or your partner must buy a new car (or rent) then why not go full electric. The electric cars are now as reliable and comfortable as petrol and they can even be more affordable in the long term. Although Tesla took an early lead there are now a myriad of great models across the big car brands. Check out Huyndai Ioniq and Kona, Chevy Bolt, Nissan Leaf, Renault Zoe, BMW i3 and Audi e-tron. There is no excuse not to buy an electric anymore.
6-7. Train Vacation & Eco-friendly travel
Book the train for that next vacation gift. Go to Paris, travel around Europe, make an adventure out of your travels. Cutting down on air-travel doesn’t mean that you have to stop traveling. Check in to an eco-friendly hotel with km zero food, no plastic, reduced water consumption and other sustainable features. Read more about sustainable tourism.
Eco-friendly Xmas Gifts for the kitchen
Food and beverages probably cause the most unsustainable waste at home. Kitchen gifts can be useful, time-saving, enjoyable and best of all eco friendly. Read more in our 4 tips for a sustainable kitchen.
Here are a few ideas:
8. EcoPro Water Filter
Still buying bottled water? Ouch. With a water filter you will save money, improve health, reduce effort of carrying home heavy bottles and best of all cut down on plastic waste.
EcoPro with recyclable cartridges starts at 99 euros per year. Find out more.
As an alternative TAPP Water also recently launched PitcherPro which is the perfect xmas gift for a friend or family member that drinks bottled water. The glass water filter jug delivers clean great tasting tap water.
Learn more about why filtered water is healthier, how activated carbon works and how to chose the best water filter.
9. Reusable Bamboo Cutlery Set
“Plastic cutlery? Not for me!” Say #notoplastic with an amazing bamboo utensil set! Stylish, lightweight, and totally natural - perfect for the #zerowaster on the go!
10. Zero Waste Tumbler Drink Kit
Life making your thirsty? Instead of reaching for that styrofoam or plastic Big Gulp cup, try our Tumbler Kit that's perfect for hydrating on the go!
11. Beeswax wraps
Affordable and practical gift to use for wrapping of sandwiches, bread, fruits on the go or for anything stored in the fridge. Lots of alternative products.
12. Roll Eat bags
A variant of the Bees wax wrap. It is reusable, very easy to clean, and light enough to take with you anywhere.
https://rolleat.com/product-category/snack-bag/
13. Organic seeds, soil and a nice pot to grow your own spices at home
There are many beautiful xmas gift sets available for the home cook to enhance dishes with essential spices and ingredients. Making it easy by providing the soil and the pot in the same or separate packages. Fun and useful.
Eco-friendly xmas gifts for Fashion and Beauty
14. Super shower head that saves water and energy
Give a Dome shower head by Altered to save 75% water and still enjoy a nice wet shower. Available on Kickstarter with great early bird deals now. More.
15. Plastic and Chemical Free Deodorant
Nuud or one of the other natural & eco-friendly deodorant is a nice gift for the organic and health minded.
16-17. Sunglasses - the gift that turns plastic into good looks
Two of our favorite sunglass brands include
Sea 2 see - Collect plastic waste from the oceans and look great at the same time. Sea to see is a great. https://www.sea2see.org/
Shwood - Makes beautiful mostly wood based sunglasses using sustainable sourcing and development processes. https://shwoodshop.com/
18. A DIY Beauty Book
Easy, All-Natural, Sustainable Recipes Based on commercial products from Lush, Kiehl's, Burt's Bees, Bumble and bumble, Laura Mercier, and More!
https://www.amazon.com/DIY-Beauty-All-Natural-Recipes-Favorites/
19. Zero waste skincare kit
This skincare kit is your secret weapon to perfect skin. Made from botanical ingredients, these products will leave any face fresh, balanced, and toned. It's great for all types of skin! This Kit Includes: • Meow Meow Tweet Toner • Meow Meow Tweet Face Oil • Rose Clay -or- Tea Tree Charcoal Facial Bar
20. Reusable Water Bottle
Beautiful big and small watches made bamboo make great gifts. Eluxemagazine has listed a few of the top
Eco-friendly Gift Experiences
Why buy things when you can give experiences with memories that last a lifetime?
Just a few ideas:
22. A dinner at home away from home
Have dinner in someone’s home with Eatwith. Lots of great vegan and vegetarian alternatives for inspiration.
23. Cooking classes
Improve your cooking skills and reduce shopping of prefab foods. Maybe even a vegan cooking class for inspiration?
24-25. Concert or theatre
DVDs, CDs and records used to be great gifts but nowadays music and video is available online. Why not experience it live instead in a concert or theatre. Choose a local band to reduce the CO2 footprint.
26. Audiobook subscription
Save some trees and listen to books. There are now several great audio book services including Audible, Google Audiobooks and Storytel.
27. Reusable coffee cups
Keep your drink warmer for longer, eliminate spills with leak proof lids and reuse over and over again. Reusable coffee cups are an excellent alternative to single use takeaway cups and have a positive impact on the environment.value.
Buy directly from their website circularandco.com for the best deals.
28. Xmas gift donation to a good cause
Why buy something at all when you can give the money away to a good cause? Trees, ocean clean ups, environmental lobbyists, green politics or something else that you or your gift recipient is passionate about. Don’t know where to start? If you can’t find a local charity that you like then Greenpeace or WWF are great choices.
More ideas for sustainable and ethical xmas gifts
We need 3 more eco-friendly Christmas ideas to make it 30! Please add your ideas, suggestions and tips below.
Merry sustainable XmasEco
