How to gift sustainably: Tips for giving eco-friendly presents

Good conscience gifting.

Every Christmas afternoon, when all of the chaos is over, the kids are playing with their toys in the yard and everyone else is in a food coma from lunch, there it is: the mountain of crumpled wrapping paper.

No matter how high your spirits are, it’s a pretty confronting sight – a salient reminder of just how wasteful the holidays can be. Each year, Australians use more than 150,000km of wrapping paper at Christmas time, which is nearly enough to wrap around the planet four times. 

Looking for more gifting ideas? Try this.

We also spend around $20 million on gifts that our loved ones don’t even want (check out our gift guide to avoid this sad fate). Those quickly-discarded gimmick T-shirts, breakable plastic trinkets and towers of leftovers left out in the sun – they all contribute to the problem. 

While no one is likely to stop giving gifts or eating good at Christmas time, with a little advance planning, there are ways to make the holiday season better for the environment and for your conscience. Here are a few ways to fill out your holiday shopping list with sustainability in mind.

Reusable wrapping

To address the elephant – or in this case, the massive pile of paper – in the room, the first thing to do is look for reusable wrapping options. While wrapping presents in old newspapers is a classic move, it’s giving ‘fish-and-chips’ rather than ‘festival glamour’. 

For those looking for a charming and versatile wrapping option, try the Lush Knot Wraps. Made from recycled bottles and organic cotton, Knot Wraps are reusable fabric squares that are decorated with the work of 100 notable artists and designers, including First Nations artist Rachael Sarra and Shashikala, a designer who forms part of the Re-Wrap Artisans Collective, a social enterprise in India focusing on environmental and social change.

Inspired by Japanese furoshiki – traditional cloths used to transport important valuable goods with care – the Knot Wraps are easy to use and built to be passed back and forth for years to come. There are a plethora of options designed for Christmas and all year round, coming in a range of different sizes. Lush also has a handy guide demonstrating lots of ways to tie your Knot Wrap to make your gift stand out, which you can view here. And we wouldn’t judge if you wore them as an accessory when the holidays are over, they’re that cute. 

Regifting

Choosing a gift that’s already in circulation instead of buying new will prevent waste, as well as being a little easier on the wallet. In the end, your presents will be more interesting, personal and one-of-a-kind.

Head to op shops or vintage markets and hunt for the perfect items. Think secondhand books, classic records, vintage jewellery, frilly teapots, and glass vases (bonus points if filled with fresh flowers). For something a little more specific, re-selling websites will usually have what you’re looking for. 

When in doubt, shopping from your own collection can also be a thoughtful idea. That makeup palette that doesn’t suit your colouring but would be perfect for your best friend? Done.

Sustainable businesses

If you do plan on buying new, take a look at the practices and ethics of the businesses you plan on buying from. It’s always good to support small businesses and shop from local brands, who tend to put their money back into the local economy. 

Many larger companies will have their environmental policies listed on their website, and if they don’t, it may be a sign that they’ve got something to hide. Lush, for example, outlines their practices from packaging to raw materials and labour in their environmental policy, so customers can be certain of where their money is going.

Experiences rather than items

Many people just buy themselves the things they want, which can make it notoriously difficult to find something they’ve been coveting that they don’t already have. When you’re buying for someone who has it all, opt for an experience. It’ll give you something to do during that carefree gap between Christmas and New Year’s, and the holidays are all about spending time together, right?

Movie tickets, trips to the nail salon, massages, wine tours, photo shoots, gift certificates to a gallery or a nice restaurant, subscriptions and classes are all gifts that’ll make memories rather than add to the growing pile of debris. 

Opt for packaging and plastic-free gifts

Gifts that are packaging and plastic-free and can be used up are both more sustainable and always appreciated. At Lush, beauty products like bath bombs, soaps, massage bars and shampoo bars have very little or no packaging making for a thoughtful gift with minimal waste. Better yet, they can be beautifully tied up in a Knot Wrap.

If you’ve got any kind of talent in the kitchen, spend the afternoon whipping up a batch of gingerbread cookies, then wrap them in reusable fabric and deliver them to your friends. The same goes for flavoured liqueurs, homemade jams or bundles of homegrown herbs and produce if you’ve got a garden. Plants also make a lovely gift – propagate a succulent, put it in a thrifted pot and finish it off with a bow.

For more Christmas gift ideas from Lush, head here.