Sustainable and Useful Gift Giving at Christmas: Down with Toiletry Giftsets!

This Christmas is long-awaited for its promises of seeing family, hugs we missed out on last year, and seeing the faces of friends when we can finally pass around our secret Santas in person. In the past few years, we have gotten into vintage fashion, used more charity shops than ever, and even clinked our way to Woodhouse Moor with our glass recycling, so of course, we are keen to think about easy ways to make this Christmas more sustainable, environmentally friendly, and cheaper..? 

Secret Santa, but up the budget 

Secret Santa can save a lot of time and money when buying gifts for groups. Sorting a present for just one person can allow you to put time into making it more personal, and gives you more money to spend, resulting in a gift that will be kept, used, or at the very least, not thrown away. Low Secret Santa budgets can encourage people to buy jokey tat which end up in the bin. Sometimes you can’t beat jokey tat, but it's all about balance. 

Shopping-Small, or Second Hand 

Searching charity shops or scouring eBay can be a great way to get hold of unique and often high-quality steals. Vintage mugs and tea sets, vases, and jewelry can be thrifted and often feel more personal than something from Ikea. Even board games to play on Christmas day are a great thrifty gift. Oxfam is bursting with books, vinyl, and CDs, and if it is bought second-hand there is less waste and disappointment if the books stay on the bookshelf. Etsy, tik-tok, and Instagram are great places to find small and independent businesses through hashtags or filters. Shopping for handmade items from small businesses means you are shopping ethically, and often higher quality, meaning that gifts can be used and worn time and time again. 

Doing and Making 

Meals out, concerts, sports games, pottery, and jewellery-making courses or daybreaks make great memorable gifts that are great for the person you buy them for, and for yourself. At the risk of singing tik-tok’s praises again, using hashtags online to find handmade present ideas can come up with some really good results. Alcohol miniatures in an old mason jar, ingredients to cook a specific meal along with the recipe in a thrifted hamper, teacup candles, or a stove potpourri in a charity shop tumbler, are just a few that I have found that would cost little, be used, and have little to no waste. 

What do they need? 

Encourage people to tell you what they really want and need, and to be specific. If there is something they have been putting off buying for themselves, getting it for them means that the present won’t end up in the landfill. The utility of presents is important to consider when gifting sustainably. It's important to remember that purchases are only wasteful if they are used only a few times and thrown out. Buying from typical ‘fast fashion’ brands, or from chain stores, can still be a sustainable way to shop. Buying your friend something that they have wanted for months, and will therefore be kept and used time and time again, slows down ‘fast’ fashion and consumption, and can actually be an ethical choice. 

Avoiding Gift Sets 

Or, if you really can’t think of anything else, homemade gift sets, like a charity shop mug and an assortment of organic teas, is thoughtful and avoids all the unnecessary plastic packaging. 

The Finishing Touches

Wrapping with newspaper can look quite chic and saves a bomb of plastic-lined wrapping paper. Gift tags can also be made by cutting up old cards, or just writing directly onto the wrapping paper, and glue instead of Sellotape saves even more plastic. Shops are open this year, and our Christmas shopping can move to in-person. If this is the least you can do, you are still saving transport miles and packaging from ordering online. Leeds City centre is alive with Christmas lights and all the shops have dusted off their festive playlists. Grabbing a hot chocolate from the market stall just outside the Henry Moore Institute and wandering around, Christmas shopping or not is a cracking way to spend a winter afternoon. Merry Christmas!