5 days ago
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Christmas is a time of giving and receiving – and oh-so much overconsumption. If the thought of all that excess and single-use packaging gives you palpitations, here’s how to give great-value, joy-inducing presents in a way that doesn’t add to the world’s problems and, in many cases, supports solutions.
I’ve tried and tested gifts – from bath-time luxe to nature-positive accessories and charity-supporting fun – to help you avoid mass-produced fodder or last-minute throwaway tat. For this list I’ve chosen only ethical brands and online retailers with eco- and social-impact credentials, to prove that sustainable doesn’t have to mean sanctimonious.
Guilt-free gifts that pay it forward
Happy hamper
Social Stories Club winter warmer hamper
Gift boxes are a nice idea, but they trigger my eco-anxiety with all that unnecessary packaging. So welcome to these neat, plastic-free parcels of seasonal treats, which support meaningful change thanks to conscious curation from founders Karis Gill and Aayush Goyal. Highlights include loose-leaf mulled wine Darjeeling tea, which funds education in growing regions; a gingerbread hot chocolate that pays for school meals; and handcrafted lavender candles that empower underserved communities in India.
Scent packing
Aarven incense
These aromatic sticks from Margate-based brand Aarven support work by Indian artisans with disabilities. I love how beautifully they’re wrapped when you order from Plum & Belle. Scents include ylang ylang and sandalwood.
Wheat heat
Blästa Henriët wheat bag
This therapeutic fabric pouch warms parts radiators can’t reach when heated in a microwave or oven – great for easing aches. It can also be chilled in the freezer. It feels extra wholesome having this British-made, Oeko-Tex-certified linen and Cotswold wheat filling close to your skin instead of the usual ice-pack chemicals and plastic.
Bee here now
Green & Blue beepot
Not just a planter but also a cute concrete bee hotel (made in the UK using waste material from Cornwall’s china clay industry), which invites solitary bees – 90% of bee species in the UK – to make themselves at home. I love anything that pays it forward for these all-important pollinators. Available in white, charcoal and yellow.
Take silk
Silk & Bears hand-dyed mulberry silk scarves
These high-quality mulberry silk scarves are sourced from Vietnamese artisans in traditional weaving villages by Silk & Bears, a UK-based mother-and-daughter-run brand. I particularly love the generously long one in deep fuchsia, which brings a little instant chic on a cold grey day.
Polar panel
Ocean play set toy pouch
Play the explorer without leaving home with these polar bears, seals and penguins made by a Fair Trade enterprise using hand-loomed cotton, which comes in a zip-up pouch. Science and stats tell us that children taught to appreciate nature from a young age maintain a lifelong love for wildlife conservation – and I love how this set is super light if you need to post overseas.
For more sustainable kids gifts, see our guide
The best a tooth can get
Laro naturally whitening toothpaste
A luxury version of an everyday essential makes this chic aluminium tube a thoughtful gift for those who are hard to buy for. This female-founded brand blends pharmaceutical knowledge with natural ingredients in a delicious cream of wild mint, lemon and bergamot oils. It’s also an environmental health hero, as this plastic-, fluoride- and SLS-free oral care gives to Greenspark, an organisation that invests in tree-planting and carbon-offsetting.
Bump up your bath
Hotel, Mike bath and body salts
These luxurious ginger, vetiver and grass-enhanced salts are made in a factory that runs on renewable energy using natural fermentation and cold-press manufacturing techniques. The salts smell zingy and make your bath therapeutic, thanks to the bioactives. I love buying through Brimm because it sends 10% of all member purchases into its Planet fund, which provides grants to its suppliers to help tackle their environmental impact.
Book ’em
Bookshop.org gift cards
Invest in independent booksellers with these digital gift tokens, valid for two years. If you want to give a physical book, a great one for grandparents to “edutain” curious minds is A Poem for Every Question by Brian Bilston, which is less sing-song verse, more fun facts from why people hug to how clouds work.
Choc it to me
Arthouse Unlimited chocolates and soaps
I always love sending these chocolates and soaps decked in colourful illustrations by artists living with diverse learning and physical disabilities. The vegan soap, candles and incense are paraben-free. And a sweet choice is the new Hugging Animals-design dark chocolate with mint and crystal crunch, made in the UK with single-origin cocoa from Colombia.
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Vested interest
Craghoppers x National Trust borage women’s vest
These natty gilets for all seasons have a plant-based water-repellent sheen, perfect for dog walkers and lovers of the outdoors. I get lots of compliments for my olive-green number, and it always feels good to recommend a nature-positive, zero-waste brand.
One pep beyond
Ancient + Brave Immunity drops
Keep your finger on the pulse of the functional-mushroom trend with this Soil Association-certified organic tincture of botanicals and nutrients. A few drops may help ward off winter colds, while the recycled and recyclable packaging is easy on the eye. Plus, 2% of revenue from every product is pledged to environmental causes and social initiatives.
A plant you cannot kill
Air plants
Pick up one of these little beauties from your local garden centre or online and breathe life into any space without soil or much watering. These self-sufficient plants absorb nutrients through their leaves, making them a low-maintenance gift for anyone who struggles to keep indoor plants thriving.
Give a ring
Ishkar stack ring
Handcrafted by artisans in the old city of Kabul from sterling silver and gold-plated sterling silver, these purposeful pieces from a London-based brand support Afghan communities and preserve traditional metalworking techniques.
Help a refugee stay warm
A Choose Love coat for a child
This is the gift of a warmer winter coat, provided by proxy to a refugee in a displaced community, thanks to a charity with a network that delivers help where it’s needed on the ground. Since 2016, shoppers have bought more than £13m worth of items through the Choose Love shop.
Bubble tea
Saicho Osmanthus sparkling tea
Turn up to festive gatherings with this fragrant, imaginative bottle of bubbly, a great alternative to alcohol, which shows grassroots love for farming communities in Xianyou, China. Featuring hand-plucked, dawn-harvested blossoms married with Fujian mountain single-blend oolong, it’s cold-brewed in English spring water. It also comes in a beautiful gift box.
Give the gift of good news
The Happy News subscription
The world would be a better place if independent journalism had more funding. Here’s an easy way to fly the flag for fair-trade editorial. This gift of a colourful, 32-page newspaper, published every three months, will treat recipients to a welcome serving of smile-inducing good news as a counter to all the cortisol-spiking headlines otherwise vying for our attention.
Seed the world
Cover Crop album by Amber Rubarth
Friends or family in the States? I’ve found sending anything to the US right now a faff, and it always feels satisfying to boycott Amazon and support a singer-songwriter directly. But if you order Amber’s limited-edition seed pack, which comes with the album download, your lucky recipient can plant the very cover crops (which regenerate farmland between harvests) the music celebrates while enjoying her rearrangements of everything from Supertramp to the Beatles. A footprint-free Christmas gift to soothe the soul and the soil.
Bag a tree
Zero-waste bag
Order a bag from these recycling gurus to fill and label with hard-to-recycle items you want to get rid of, such as Christmas decorations and party supplies. The price includes shipping costs, and for every bag sold, TerraCycle will plant two trees. In the UK, the government estimates only about 44% of household waste gets recycled, so if you can, consider this bag to help reduce the Christmas excess.
Sustainability expert Juliet Kinsman is a journalist, speaker and consultant. Author of guidebooks including The Green Edit: Travel (Ebury) and The Bucket List: Eco Experiences (Rizzoli), she was the first sustainability editor for Condé Nast Traveller, and was co-presenter on The Daily Climate Show for Sky News. There’s nothing she loves more than signposting consumers to people, products and places sparking joy – sustainably and responsibly
For more gift inspiration from the Filter, read thoughtful gifts that last and the best sustainable gifts for young children
