Christmas is around the corner. If you’re still worrying about what to get for your loved ones, you should have a look at this blogpost. I show you four eco-friendly and useful Christmas gift ideas. And in case it’s already too late for Christmas: They’re also great for other seasons or occasions.
I think giving presents is a nice gesture – especially if there is no pressure behind & if it comes straight from the heart. I especially like giving useful presents which the receiving person can either use in their daily life or which will enrich their life in some way. In my opinion the intention and message matters a lot more than the actual value of the gift. The following ideas are fairly unusual but also… pretty cool!
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Growing / seed sowing calendar
I originally found this kind of calendar on the German Website Primoza, inspired by Luise Morgen from Instagram. Each month has its own page and contains different seeds. The seeds are worked into strips that are made of special seed paper. You just rip the paper into pieces and plant it into a pot with some soil. You also get fun facts and interesting information about the flower, herb or vegetable seeds. On top, Primoza offers an online guide which tells you more about further cultivation of your plants. The calendar is free of plastic and made of recycled paper. A unique and simply awesome idea!
If it’s not possible to have this calendar delivered to your country and you can’t find a similar product, I suggest to just do it yourself. Have a look at an online seed sowing calendar that shows which plants, flowers, herbs etc. are best to grow in which month. Choose one for each month and put the seeds in small, labelled bags. Add an instruction & a short message about the seed – there you go. A personalized seed sowing calendar.
365 questions a day journal
This Q&A five-year journal asks you a question every day – for five years of your life. You start by answering a question at the top of the page every day. One question, one page. When you finished year one the journal starts over. As you return to the questions you’ve already answered you can see what was going through your heard the year(s) before. And you’ll notice how your answers changed. I myself have been doing this for 7 years now. I’ve not only answered the questions but also written down the highlight of my day. This book is therefore probably one of the most valuable things I own as I know to the day what I did the past 7 years. The questions are provocative (“On a scale of one to ten, how happy are you”?), quirky (“What can you smell right now?”) and also interesting (“If you could travel anywhere tomorrow, where would you go?”). So far I’ve been pretty motivated to fill it out on a regular basis. I guess the main reason is that there’s not too much space to write down the answer compared to a common diary.
Give a tree
Why not … give a tree? This is a great gift for people who don’t like to receive material things and are environmentally conscious. And it’s a gift which will stay forever. I gave two trees to my mum through treedom. You can choose from many species, countries, meanings and local uses. Or you choose based on how much CO2 the tree will absorb.
Once you bought the tree a farmer will plant it in his or her country, take a photo and geo locate it. All this information, including pictures, is shared with you. So you can watch your tree grow and follow its story.
Apart from the CO2 absorption the fruits of your tree will belong to the farmer. So he or she will be able to use them as a food resource or support for their income. Win for environment, win for the donee, win for the farmer and for you.
30 days challenge cards
Last but not least I’d like to add my 30 days challenge cards idea… or maybe you can even do 12 cards – one for each month of the following year. It is very simple. The idea is that the receiving person has to master a challenge with each card. These challenges can be in areas like mindfulness (“Medidate 5 mins”), food (“Eat vegan for one day“), sports (“Take more than 10.000 steps every day in March”) or any other area that comes to your mind. Or you can add vouchers, like going to the cinema and cooking together. It is a simple idea but comes from the heart. Here’s my DIY-guide.
I hope I could give you some inspiration for your next gift with these Christmas gift ideas. I especially like them because they add value to someone elses life – whether it’s your friend or mother earth.
Merry Christmas
