Gift Guide
Post Summary: My 2023 personal gift guide featuring low waste goods, products from independent makers, and/or items we’ve found to be of great use in our home. (Note: None of the items on this list are sponsored, though I have worked with some of these products or brands in the past.)
The following is what I gift or often find myself recommending throughout the year. Some of these items are new-to-me in 2023, while others overlap with my gifting lists from previous years… because the point isn’t finding the latest thing— it’s about sharing goods that serve a practical purpose with unique style while bringing joy and hopefully reducing waste.
Thanks... but no thanks! (Thoughts on Avoiding Unnecessary Gifts)
Because the best gift anyone can give our children is a healthy planet for their generation and those that follow.
Because the best gift anyone can give our children is a healthy planet for their generation and those that follow.
It’s the time of year… for unwanted and unnecessary gifts.
With the planet groaning under the weight of ever-intensifying consumerism, households feeling relentless financial strain, and families grappling with an excess of clutter in their homes, it’s time we more widely accept and respect one’s decision to firmly avoid giving and receiving gifts.
But how do we kindly tell a child’s relatives to stop sending toys?
What do we do about well-intended friends who insist on giving “something”?
What solutions are there for rehousing the unwanted gifts that inevitably make their way through the door, despite the recipients wishes?
And what are some unique gifts that won’t further contribute to overflowing households, and — inevitably— landfills, which have a greater impact on disenfranchised and marginalized populations?*
Lower Waste Gifting - 2022 Edition
Post Summary: My 2022 personal gift guide featuring low waste goods and/or products from independent makers. (Note: None of the items on this list are sponsored, though I have worked with some of these products or brands in the past. This is my own roundup. )
The following is what we gift or recommend to our close family and friends throughout the year. Several of these items overlap with gifting lists / posts from previous years, because the point isn’t finding the best “new” thing— it’s finding goods that serve a practical purpose with unique style while bringing joy.
Railroad Lantern
The rechargable lantern from Barebones that we’ve been using nightly at the Cottage. It’s easy to carry, suspend, or display on small surfaces.
Click here
Stabilo Woody 3-in-1 Duo Pencils
These multi-tasking pencils with 2-color points can be used in a multitude of ways, including on glass.
Click here
Creative Style by Lizzie McGraw
If you’re on this site, you’ll love the interior design work of Lizzie McGraw. Every piece of multi-tasking furniture I’ve ever designed has been designed with Lizzie, and built by her and her team with reclaimed materials and lots of love. Lizzie turns overlooked items into treasures on a daily basis, and her long-standing shop on Abbot Kinney in Venice is one of my favorite places on the planet, as it shares her vibrant heartbeat. This book is full of inspiration and joy, just like its author.
Click here
Reusable Ear Swabs
LastSwab replaces up to 1000 single-use cotton swabs. Their standard swab and their makeup swab both have a soft-feel tip and are easy to clean.
Click here
Herbs for Home & Healing in the Anthropocene
Our bodies and this planet are our true homes, so we need to listen to and care for them. I have personally come to regularly rely on these Earth Star Herbals by Alyson Morgan.
Click here
Me: A Compendium (Kid’s Journal)
This delightful, fill-in journal is one of West’s recent favorites. (For reference, he’s 6 years old.) It’s funny and playful, and a great outlet for kids who enjoy reading, writing, drawing, and thinking creatively.
Click here
Water Carbonator
Our Aarke water carbonator is not only stylish, but it helps us save between 4-6 bottles from the recycling bin daily. We have the Carbonator Pro in Sand, because it uses glass bottles rather than plastic. But the traditional Aarke is fantastic too, and offers a tiny countertop footprint for space-savvy styling.
Click here
Children’s Audio App Subscription
This app / audio subscription service has a diverse selection of programming for kids of all ages. (West and Léa particularly love Sarah & Duck, and also enjoy Alphabet Adventures.)
Click here
Caraway Cook + Bakeware + Food Storage
I got Adam a set of Caraway’s non-toxic, colorful pots / pans for the new cottage, and we both appreciate them so much that we invested in their bakeware and food storage, too.
Click here
All of Us Skin Tone Crayons
Handcrafted in the USA without any paraffin or fillers, these crayons are crafted with beeswax, carnauba wax and earth pigments.
Click here
The Naked Stone
These low waste moisturizing stones are for the whole body, and are a made-from-scratch revolution against plastics, pumps, and chemicals, and come in a refillable bamboo canister.
Click here
Portable Projector
We don’t have a TV or large monitor in our home, but we can watch movies anywhere thanks to our little projector.
Planetbox
This stainless steel lunchbox (which comes in a few sizes/styles) is one of the most-used items in our home, and eliminates the need for baggies and multiple containers for meals on-the-go.
Click here
Safety Razor
We can prevent millions of plastic, disposable razors and razor heads from entering landfills and oceans with safety razors. Oui the People makes beautiful safety razors to last a lifetime, and also sells blade refills.
Click here
Refurbished Ratio Coffee Maker
Ratio makes the most beautiful coffee makers— especially when paired with their glass carafes. The smaller model is particularly great for small spaces. We have the Ratio8 in a refurbished model.
Click here
Steamline Luggage
These suitcases, which have been favorites of mine for years, are so stylish that they can be reused for a myriad of purposes and for storage around the home. This is particularly helpful in small spaces, where there’s often no place to store a suitcase. If you can’t store it, why not display and use it daily?
Click here
Collapsible Water Bottle
Reusable bottles have never been easier to tote! These collapsible, pocket-sized Stojo bottles even loop over a bike/stroller handlebar or around a backpack with ease.
Click here
Homemade Grape Jam & Bread
Nothing beats homemade food. No clutter. No waste. No costly spending. And a gift from the heart and hands.
Rechargeable Lighter
There are more than 300 uses per charge in this stylish lighter, and it’s rechargeable, eliminating the need for refills or disposables. Plus it has a safety mechanism for homes with little ones.
Click here
Vintner's Daughter
This company’s skincare philosophy centers on offering multi-correctional performance and the belief that if one product delivers a myriad of benefits, fewer products are needed, fewer are produced, and less natural resources are utilized. Even better, the ingredients are sourced from responsible producers, many of which have used the same sustainable, organic farming practices for generations. It’s not cheap, but for the quality and all the products it replaces, Active Botanical Serum is totally worth it, in my opinion. (This company is also a donor to The RightWay Foundation.)
Click here
Play Silks
Sarah’s Silks is a family owned company specializing in Waldorf inspired sustainable toys for children. Their silks are simple and versatile, and dyed with non-toxic, eco-friendly dyes.
Click here
Braiding Sweetgrass
Everyone could do with putting down the phone and picking up a book. In Braiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall Kimmerer shows that, “the awakening of a wider ecological consciousness requires the acknowledgment and celebration of our reciprocal relationship with the rest of the living world.”
Click here
Handmade Wooden Incense Burners
I purchased one of these little gems for the new Cottage and the entire family is enamored with her.
Click here
OddBird Robes + Towels
Sustainably robes made in small-batches, using 100% natural fibers and woven by artisans on century-old semi-automatic looms.
Click here
Late Sunday Afternoon Ascots
These responsibly-made ascots can be worn in a myriad of ways— around your neck, on your wrist, in your hair, on your bag/pack/basket, and around the brim of your hat. Our friends at Late Sunday Afternoon use locally sourced deadstock fabrics to create their ascots in-house. Any scraps are used to stuff handmade dog beds that they then donate to animal shelters.
Click here
Tips for Avoiding Unnecessary Gifts
This is an updated, more comprehensive version of an earlier post entitled, “How to Politely Handle Unwanted Gifting.”
It’s the time of year… for unwanted and unnecessary gifts.
With the planet in crisis, folks struggling financially, and families grappling with an excess of clutter in their homes, I’d argue that it’s time we more widely accept and respect one’s decision to firmly avoid giving and receiving gifts.
But how do we kindly tell a child’s relatives to stop sending toys? What do we do about well-intended friends who insist on giving “something!”? What solutions are there for rehousing the unwanted gifts that inevitably make their way through the door, despite the recipients wishes? And what are some unique gifts that won’t further contribute to overflowing households, and — inevitably— landfills, which have a greater impact on disenfranchised and marginalized populations? (See Toxic Communities: Environmental Racism, Industrial Pollution, and Residential Mobility by Dorceta E. Taylor.)
Since living in our cottage, having our first child, and learning more about the climate emergency, we began gently telling our friends and family that the absolute best gift they can give our children is an inhabitable planet for their generation and those that follow, and that giving random stuff doesn’t help them in the long run.
For years, this conversation was easy for us, as most people knew that we lived in a tiny house that couldn’t accommodate excessive belongings. Now that we’ve moved into a space over twice the size (~900 sqft), we predict that we’ll have to remind folks that even though our square footage has increased, we still have the same views regarding gifting.
We know that everything sent our way is usually acquired with so much love, but we believe that the impact of the items (from the manufacturing, to workers’ rights, to packaging, to transport, to haphazard placement within our home, to eventual disposal of some sort,) ultimately matters more than the intent.
For folks who take affront, and/or just don’t quite understand our reasoning, I suggest or give a copy of The Future We Choose: Surviving the Climate Crisis, and/or Aja Barber’s book, Consumed: The Need for Collective Change: Colonialism, Climate Change, and Consumerism.
Of course it needs to be acknowledged that to ward off gifting of this nature is a privilege, as so many people are living unhoused and without the basic necessities. But, as Barber wrote* in an Instagram post, “The things which are said to us in childhood normalize living in a world with inequality… “ (ie: “Be grateful for your food / gifts, because so many people are going without!”) So instead of tricking ourselves into believing that we should simply continue to accept unnecessary gifts and keep our thoughts to ourselves, we’ve instead started pointing the folks who wish to convey their love in tangible form in the direction of nonprofits such as The RightWay Foundation, which are in constant need of financial and product donations.
We are, however, always happy to receive children’s books, knowing that our kids will explore them thoroughly for years, and that we can ultimately pass them along to other children, a library, or a local school once they’re no longer being read.
We also embrace the idea of gifting experiences, such as museum or garden memberships / admissions, Airbnb Experiences, digital subscriptions, local food and beverage, and other such presents that support an organization or small business while also providing our family or others with a new adventure of some sort. When it comes to regifting unwanted items, I look at it this way: If a giver circles back and asks me to reveal the whereabouts of a present they once gave us, that relationship is probably one that needs some reconsidering or deep work. And besides, there are so many people, families and organizations in need of certain goods that I feel no guilt in passing along a thing we do not need here, and giving it instead to someone who can put it to good use.
When rehousing an item, we’ve discovered that it’s extremely important to first verify that an organization can indeed put it to specific use, otherwise it is statistically destined for a landfill. Hopefully the original gift-giver would understand and support that action.
’Tis, after-all, the season to share.
(*Reference to a post by Aja Barber entitled, “Where do out human rights and and others begin?”)
Guide for Avoiding Unnecessary Gifts
How to politely deal with unwanted gifts— hopefully before they’re given, but also after the fact.
This is an updated, more comprehensive version of an earlier post entitled, “How to Politely Handle Unwanted Gifting.”
It’s the time of year… for unwanted and unnecessary gifts. With the planet in crisis, folks struggling financially, and families grappling with an excess of clutter in their homes after being indoors for the greater part of two years, I’d argue that it’s time we more widely accept and respect one’s decision to firmly avoid giving and receiving gifts.
But how do we kindly tell a child’s grandparents to stop sending toys?
What do we do about well-intended friends who insist on giving “something!”?
What solutions are there for rehousing the unwanted gifts that inevitably make their way through the door, despite the recipients wishes?
And what are some unique gifts that won’t further contribute to overflowing households, and — inevitably— landfills, which have a greater impact on disenfranchised and marginalized populations?
Since living in our cottage, having our first child, and learning more about the climate emergency, we began gently telling our friends and family that the absolute best gift they can give our son is an inhabitable planet for his generation and those that follow, and that giving him random stuff doesn’t help him in the long run.
For years, this conversation was easy for us, as most people knew that we lived in a tiny house that couldn’t accommodate excessive belongings. Now, as we’re in limbo and transitioning between living environments, we’ve had to remind folks that even though we’re temporarily in a larger home, we still have the same views regarding gifting. We were hit with a wave of presents for both West and his little sister when she was born. We know that everything was acquired and sent our way with so much love, but we believe that the impact of the items (from the manufacturing, to workers’ rights, to packaging, to transport, to haphazard placement within our temporary home, to eventual disposal of some sort,) matters more than the intent.
For folks who take affront, and/or just don’t quite understand our reasoning, I suggest or give a copy of The Future We Choose: Surviving the Climate Crisis, and/or Aja Barber’s book, Consumed: The Need for Collective Change: Colonialism, Climate Change, and Consumerism.
Of course it needs to be acknowledged that to ward off gifting of this nature is a privilege, as so many people are living unhoused and without the basic necessities. But, as Barber wrote in a recent* Instagram post, “The things which are said to us in childhood normalize living in a world with inequality… “ (ie: “Be grateful for your food / gifts, because so many people are going without!”) So instead of tricking ourselves into believing that we should simply continue to accept unnecessary gifts and keep our thoughts to ourselves, we’ve instead started pointing the folks who wish to convey their love in tangible form in the direction of nonprofits such as The RightWay Foundation, which are in constant need of financial and product donations.
We are, however, always happy to receive children’s books, knowing that our kids will explore them thoroughly for years, and that we can ultimately pass them along to other children, a library, or a local school once they’re no longer being read.
We also embrace the idea of gifting experiences, such as museum or garden memberships / admissions, Airbnb Experiences, digital subscriptions, local food and beverage, and other such presents that support an organization or small business while also providing our family or others with a new adventure of some sort.
When it comes to regifting unwanted items, I look at it this way: If a giver circles back and asks me to reveal the whereabouts of a present they once gave us, that relationship is probably one that needs some reconsidering or deep work. And besides, there are so many people, families and organizations in need of certain goods that I feel no guilt in passing along a thing we do not need here, and giving it instead to someone who can put it to good use.
When rehousing an item, we’ve discovered that it’s extremely important to first verify that an organization can indeed put it to specific use, otherwise it is statistically destined for a landfill. Hopefully the original gift-giver would understand and support that action.
’Tis, after-all, the season to share.
(*Reference to a post by Aja Barber entitled, “Where do out human rights and and others begin?”)
A List of What I’m Gifting (and Why) - 2020 Edition
Post Summary: My 2020 personal gift guide featuring low waste goods and/or products from independent makers. (Note: None of the items on this list are sponsored, though I have worked with some of these products or brands in the past. This is my own roundup. )
The following is what we’re considering gifting to our close family and friends. Some of these items overlap with my 2019 gifting list, because the point isn’t finding the best “new” thing— it’s finding goods that serve a practical purpose with unique style while bringing joy.
Reusable Ear Swabs
Because LastSwab replaces up to 1000 single-use cotton swabs. Their standard swab and their makeup swab both have a soft-feel tip and are easy to clean.
Click here (and get 10% off with the code: tinycanalcottage)
Herbs for Home & Healing in the Anthropocene
Because our bodies and this one shared planet are our true homes, so we need to listen to and care for them. And I have personally come to regularly rely on these Earth Star Herbals by Alyson Morgan.
Click here
Water Carbonator
Because bottle waste — yes, even glass bottles — must become a thing of the past. These Aarke water carbonators are slim and stylish. Our helps us save between 4-6 bottles of bubbly water per day.
Click here
Children’s Audio App Subscription
Because Pinna Audio has been the single most used tool in our bag while sheltering at home with a four year old. This app / audio subscription service has a diverse selection of programming for kids of all ages.
Click here (and use the promo code PINNA3MONTHS for a free 3-month trial)
Plant Keeper Apron
Because I got Adam this apron for his birthday, and he uses it constantly. Designed by the brilliant stylist, author, designer, photographer, and plant-expert Hilton Carter, this unique apron is a valuable accessory for Spring and Summer gardening in particular.
Click here
All of Us Skin Tone Crayons
Handcrafted in the USA without any paraffin or fillers, these crayons are crafted with beeswax, carnauba wax and earth pigments.
Click here
The Naked Stone
Because these low waste moisturizing stones are for the whole body, and are a made-from-scratch revolution against plastics, pumps, and chemicals, and come in a refillable bamboo canister.
Click here
Extra Bright Portable Projector
Because we don’t have a TV or large monitor in our home, but we can watch movies and shows in an oversized format projected on our walls and slanted ceiling thanks to our little Cinemood. (Their newest model is extra bright, which is even better for daytime viewing.) We discovered first-hand what a great gift this is for parents of little ones— particularly during the isolation of the pandemic.
Click here
Planetbox
Because this stainless steel lunchbox (which comes in a few sizes/styles) is one of the most-used items in our home, and eliminates the need for baggies and multiple containers for meals on-the-go. (Our 4 year old enjoys using his daily for meals and picnics at home, too.)
Click here
Hidden Pictures Sticker Booklets (ages 3-6)
Because my 4 year old has been obsessed with these books for an entire year and is still excited to do one or two pages per day.
Click here
Safety Razor
Because we can prevent millions of plastic, disposable razors and razor heads from entering landfills and oceans with safety razors. Oui the People makes beautiful safety razors to last a lifetime, and also sells blade refills.
Click here
Steamline Luggage
Because even though we're not traveling this holiday season, these bags, which have been favorites of mine for years, are so stylish that they can be reused for a myriad of purposes and for storage around the home.
Click here (use the promo code HOLIDAY25 for 25% off* through December 31st, 2020. *Promo can't be combined with any other sales and excludes the Mini.
2021 Smells Better Candle
Because this handmade, 100% soy wax candle makes me laugh every time I see it, and it was created by a female owned small business based here in Venice, CA.
Click here
Toothpaste Bits
Because the hardest part about changing a habit is taking that first step, and 1 billion toothpaste tubes are thrown away every year. Bite bottles are refillable, and make great stocking stuffers.
Click here
Handmade Mixed-Media Mask Holder
Because this 4-in-1 handcrafted mask holder / necklace / bracelet is ever-useful as we keep our communities safer by masking up. The holders are made with repurposed/reclaimed brass and silk by Maddalena Bearzi, an Italian jewelry artist, marine biologist and writer.
Click here
Collapsible Water Bottle
Because reusable bottles have never been easier to tote. These collapsible, pocket-sized Stojo bottles even loop over a bike/stroller handlebar or around a backpack with ease.
Click here
Homemade Grape Jam & Bread
Because it’s a delicious, homemade, zero waste treat made right here by our extraordinary next door neighbors and by Adam.
Rechargeable Lighter
Because there are more than 300 uses per charge in this stylish lighter, and it’s rechargeable, eliminating the need for refills or disposables. Plus it has a safety mechanism for homes with little ones.
Click here
Plant-Based Milk Maker
Because the Almond Cow turns any nut, seed, or grain into homemade plant-based milk in moments. We use ours multiple times per week, and haven’t purchased substitute-milk in over a year.
Click here
Vintner's Daughter
Because this company’s skincare philosophy centers on offering multi-correctional performance and the belief that if one product delivers a myriad of benefits, fewer products are needed, fewer are produced, and less natural resources are utilized. Even better, the ingredients are sourced from responsible producers, many of which have used the same sustainable, organic farming practices for generations. It’s not cheap, but for the quality and all the products it replaces, Active Botanical Serum is totally worth it, in my opinion. (This company is also a generous donor to The RightWay Foundation.)
Click here
Play Silks
Because Sarah’s Silks is a family owned company specializing in Waldorf inspired sustainable toys for children. Their silks are simple and versatile, and dyed with non-toxic, eco-friendly dyes.
Click here
Braiding Sweetgrass
Because everyone could do with putting down the phone and picking up a book. In Braiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall Kimmerer shows that, “the awakening of a wider ecological consciousness requires the acknowledgment and celebration of our reciprocal relationship with the rest of the living world.”
Click here
Eco-Friendly Weighted Blanket
Because many of us could use some help with anxiety and sleep these days. These Bearaby weighted blankets use zero plastic in composition and packaging. They’re GOTS, BCI, OEKO-Tex 100 and Fair Trade-certified, made of organic cotton that’s naturally breathable, 100% biodegradable, and uses 85% less water than conventional farming methods, while being free from harmful chemicals, pesticides, synthetics, or artificial softeners.
Click here
OddBird Robes
Sustainably robes made in small-batches, using 100% natural fibers and woven by artisans on century-old semi-automatic looms.
Click here
Late Sunday Afternoon Ascots
Because these responsibly-made ascots can be worn in a myriad of ways— around your neck, on your wrist, in your hair, on your bag/pack/basket, and around the brim of your hat. Our friends at Late Sunday Afternoon use locally sourced deadstock fabrics to create their ascots in-house. Any scraps are used to stuff handmade dog beds that they then donate to animal shelters.
Click here
Gifting Books
I’m very vocal about my love of libraries. We have 2 within walking/biking distance of our tiny home, and we visit them weekly.
When journeying beyond LA, we always try to explore the library of the town we’re exploring.
Above: West at the library in Santa Fe, NM (November 2019)
Any time we discover a book we particularly love, I try to support the author (and illustrator, when applicable).
Sometimes we will buy a copy of a book for ourselves or as a gift. Sometimes we’ll share our favorable opinion with friends and family, or publish our thoughts via Instagram. (As an author myself, I find this sort of word of mouth to be of such value— both personally and professionally.)
This holiday season, I wanted to share a few of our recent favorites that we are reading and gifting. Some were recently published, some are older. I’m posting them here to thank their makers for creating such informative or delightful publications.
For those who want to better understand why repurposing matters:
Secondhand, by Adam Minter
In a world that craves shiny and new, is there room for it all? Secondhand offers hopeful answers and hard truths, while revealing the marketing practices, design failures, and racial prejudices that push used items into landfills instead of new homes. Secondhand shows us that it doesn't have to be this way, and what really needs to change to build a sustainable future free of excess stuff.
For those who love tiny houses:
Tiny House, by Brent Heavener
This fittingly compact yet stunningly beautiful book by Brent Heavener (the founder of @TinyHouse) showcases some of the dreamiest and most clever small space residences I’ve ever seen. (I snapped a few preview shots below to share some of my personal favorites in the book.) It’s a great lil’ coffee table book that can easily be wrapped up in a reusable cloth napkin and slide into a stocking for a lucky recipient.
For those who love crafts:
Modern Rug Hooking by Rose Pearlman
If you’re into crafting items by hand for your home by hand, Rose’s exquisite new book is filled with how-tos for creating clever, lovely, low waste needle projects.
For those striving to live a greener lifestyle:
Sustainable Home by Christine Lu
Give a Sh*t by Ashlee Piper
For those raising little ones to be in tune with the natural world:
How to Raise a Wild Child by Scott D. Sampson
Picture books (with messages of love) for the lil’ ones:
Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth by Oliver Jeffers
The Big Umbrella by Amy June Bates
Mae Among the Stars by Roda Ahmed
For folks who want bright and colorful homes:
Living With Color by Rebecca Atwood
For those who want help styling and maintaining houseplants:
Wild at Home by Hilton Carter
For Americans who want to create and protect policies for a safer and more just existence for all:
Fight Like a Mother by Shannon Watts
How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
Additional books we enjoy and intend to share:
Woman of Color by Latonya Yvette
Simple Matters by Erin Boyle
Foxfire Living by Eliza Clark & Tim Trojian
The Way of the Woodshop by Aleksandra Zee
Gifts Made at Home or From Recycled Materials
Note: This post was sponsored by GOLDTOE® in promotion of their “Recycled Lodge Collection” socks. All opinions are my own. All words are my own, with the exception of exact products descriptions, which are unchanged to maintain accuracy. As always, any imagery showing the pups was captured while they interacted in their own natural ways.
This tiny cottage has not only been our home for nearly nine years— it has also been an unexpected teacher.
Long ago we began to reevaluate how and what we consume, and modified our habits accordingly. We actively consider each and every item (and I mean each and every item) before we introduce it to our small space, and we also put the same amount of thought into each and every item we acquire for gifting purposes.
Adam and I try to be as certain as possible that the recipient will use and enjoy anything we gift, rather than feel weighed down by yet another object given simply for the sake of giving. However, it can be a bit of a challenge to select presents for folks when you aren’t fully familiar with their lifestyle and preferences.
(For example: What do we give our neighbor 2 doors down with whom we chat daily, but whose home we’ve never been into? And what do we offer the lovely woman at our corner coffee shop who greets West every morning with a genuine smile and loving hug before stepping aside to chat with us at length, but whose tastes we know very little about?)
To avoid generating waste and excess while also providing something that’s hopefully practical and delightful, we usually come up with some sort of yearly bundle.
This year, we’ve opted for a simple collection of low waste goods, outlined below.
Contents:
Homemade concord jam made from the grapes off the cottage vine
Cozy socks made from recycled water bottles
A refillable stainless steel water bottle and/or glass household soap container
Locally made olive oil in a reusable glass bottle
Packaging:
A dried or clipped flower/branch
A dish towel or multi-use cloth (in lieu of tissue paper or filler)
An upcycled wine crate or repurposed basket (in lieu of a new box or bag)
HOMEMADE JAM
The jam is far more the handiwork of our neighbors than our own. (See my full post about that here.) Adam and I have made it before and enjoy the cottage grapes annually, but it’s the hard work of our neighbor, Kevin, that produces the jam we end up giving to friends and family.
What I love most about this item is that it’s something unique to our home. The grapes are grown here, and the jam is crafted in a tiny space with love and care. It’s then given in an endlessly reusable glass mason jar.
“RECYCLED LODGE COLLECTION” SOCKS
The socks are the newcomers to our bundles this year, because who doesn’t need socks? And GOLDTOE® is now making boot socks knit with Repreve® yarns, which are made from recycled plastic bottles, while still delivering premium quality and comfort.
Repreve® has recycled over 17 billion bottles, effectively keeping them from landfills and waterways. (Remember— only about 9% of recyclables ACTUALLY end up getting recycled.) Instead of making what's called virgin fiber, making REPREVE® offsets using new petroleum, emitting fewer greenhouse gases and conserving water and energy in the process.
GOLDTOE® uses this fiber in their sophisticated yet playfully designed socks, which are durable, moisture wicking, and provide adaptive warming + cooling.
Since GOLDTOE® socks have become our favorites here at home (particularly at this time of year), we feel like they make for sensible and thoughtfully created gifts for almost any recipient.
REFILLABLE CONTAINERS
A stainless steel bottle and/or a refillable jar for household liquids is another type of gift we enjoy giving. It might seem generic, but when I see just how often the bottles I gave to my friends as part of my book release bundle are used, I realize what a dent an item like that can actually make towards helping individuals and families reduce their single-use plastic waste.
OLIVE OIL
Food and beverage can make for such excellent clutter-free presents. But when you don’t know the dietary preferences and restrictions of certain recipients, olive oil can jump in as a neutral (though not boring) option. We get ours from a local bakery, and the contents are just as beautiful as they are delicious.
Here’s to showing love and appreciation to others with the help of thoughtful, greener gifting this holiday season.
Playful, Low Waste Gift Wrap
In a recent post, I shared visuals demonstrating the simple way in which we wrap our son’s gifts. We use linen napkins, scarves and tea towels from around the house. They’re zero waste, easy for little hands to untie, and once the wrapping is no longer needed we can simply toss the cloths into the laundry bin or return them to our drawer. But what about presents that are destined for homes other than our own?
As we head into the holidays, Adam and I have somehow already found ourselves wrapping little items for our friends’ children. Instead of using linens or traditional wrapping paper, we use picture book dust jackets.
This idea is not new. I’ve seen it before, and I’ve heard it discussed and suggested a few times over the years. But now that our son is 3 and is well into picture books, we’ve accumulated enough beautiful yet impractical covers to create our own little pile of unique wrapping paper.
When we get a new book that has a dust jacket, we inevitably remove it within a day or two. I can’t bear to just chuck the paper into the recycling bin, as it’s usually so lovely. Instead, I unfold the paper and lay it under a project board beneath our mattress. (This is the best place for it in our tiny house, as none of our shelves are quite big enough to hold most unfurled pages.)
Earlier this year when the back wall of our bedroom was partially destroyed from water damage, we had to part with the covers we’d been gathering for a couple of years, as they’d gotten damp. It was a bummer, but we’ve already begun to rebuild our collection.
Once we’ve wrapped up an object with a book jacket, we use some spare/repurposed bits of ribbon or twine from around the house, and sometimes top the present(s) off with a sprig of greenery from the garden.
Is the end result perfect? Nah. But is it creative, less wasteful, thoughtful and beautiful? Personally, I believe so.
Book jacket pictured in this post: Everything You Need for a Treehouse, written by Carter Higgins and illustrated by Emily Hughes.