75 Zero Waste Gift Ideas
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We’ve pulled together 75 zero waste gift ideas, at every price point, to help you give sustainable and thoughtful gifts this holiday season **updated October 2022**
Giving someone a gift should be a gesture of how much they mean to you…or else, why are we giving? Because we think we should? I’ll be the first to say that I don’t understand why we do that…
Gifts of obligation don’t feel nearly as fun to give, and trust me, the “have to” energy can be felt by the recipient as well…
The best kinds of gifts to give AND receive are gifts you’ve spent time and/or energy pouring over this person with the intention of showing them love.
So this season, let’s try something different. Let’s scale it back, slow it down, and go back to the basics.
The Rule of Four
A few years ago I started seeing this rule of four circulation on Pinterest around the holiday season, and I’ve lived by it ever since.
It can get incredibly easy to go overboard and feel like enough is never quite enough…especially with kids for some reason. So the idea is to buy one gift from each of these categories:
- Something they want
- Something they need
- Something to wear
- Something to read
Since adopting this “rule” in our home, I never feel like my children go without. Honestly, they still are receiving gifts from other family members as well, so sometimes it still feels like too much.
Now let’s talk about those gifts…but first…
What is a zero waste gift?
I define a zero waste gift as:
- homemade
- thrifted/second hand
- found
- something that helps someone reduce waste
- an experience.
Just a heads up, my posts may contain affiliate links! If you buy something through one of those links, you won’t pay a penny more, but we’ll get a small commission to keep this blog up and running. Thank you so much!
75 zero waste gift ideas
- French press
- Audible membership
- Gift certificate to a favorite coffee shop
- House plant or tree
- Spa service
- National Parks Pass
- The gift of learning something new! Like Masterclass or Lynda.com
- Meal planning service
- DIY bath salts and scrubs
- A cast iron dutch oven pot that will last forever (I personally like the lodge one as it is a bit more affordable)
- Movies pass
- Concert tickets
- Instant Pot (I literally use mine every single day!)
- Housekeeper credit (as a mom of three, this would make me ugly cry with gratitude)
- Bees Wraps
- Stainless steel straws
- Keep Cup – a reusable coffee cup or keeps things cold too!
- Wine or locally made craft beer
- Lessons in something they have wanted to try (surfing, pottery, etc)
- Handmade pottery- by you or someone local
- Cooking class
- Stainless steel storage containers/glass storage containers
- Stainless steel water bottle
- Reusable grocery bags– *you could also wrap your gift in this!*
- Homemade bread and jam
- Locally roasted coffee beans in a pretty glass container
- Gym membership (Crossfit, local gym, yoga, etc)
- Gift certificate to a favorite local restaurant
- Handmade knits (blanket, socks, hat, etc)
- Handmade quilt
- Homemade playdough for the littles
- Handmade wooden blocks for kids
- Passing along your favorite book
- Brownie/cookie mix in a jar
- Homemade cookies
- His/her favorite candy in a glass jar
- Locally made jewelry
- Stainless steel scrubber (great for a stocking stuffer, I use mine 100 times a day!)
- Zero waste starter kit
- Cloth diaper service gift certificate
- Membership to local museum or zoo
- Tickets to watch favorite sports team play
- Comedy club tickets
- Offer to babysit
- Kindle reader
- Secondhand books
- Essential oils
- Wool dryer balls
- Bulk loose leaf tea with tea ball
- Gift certificate to a zero-waste store or bulk store
- Homemade or locally made soap bar
- Bamboo cutlery set (these are so cute!)
- Netflix membership
- Cash
- Time away together (a weekend getaway, or a family vacation, etc)
- Safety razor and refills
- Farmers market tokens
- Homemade finger paints for kids
- Donate to a charity in his/her name
- Cook and bring them a meal
- Low impact mode of transportation (scooter, bike, skateboard, etc)
- Secondhand sports equipment
- Offer to teach them a skill (gardening, woodworking, learning a new language, etc)
- Rescue a pet
- Membership to a local group or sport (MOPS, tennis club, etc)
- Gift certificate to her/his favorite consignment store
- Credit toward a wanted service (chiropractor, hair services, etc)
- Refinished piece of furniture
- Family photoshoot credit
- Framed photos of meaning to them or photo book
- Cloth napkins
- Bamboo toothbrush (great stocking stuffer!)
- Wooden kitchen accessories (how pretty are these?)
- Thrifted wooden toys
- Skincare or makeup from a sustainability-conscious company
And since we all buy so much from Amazon (I know I do, it’s just so dang easy!), here is an article on how to reduce your Amazon packaging.
I hope that’s enough zero waste gift ideas to get you started. Did I forget anything? What would you add?
