Sustainable Gifts You Can Feel Great About Giving

This gift makes it a whole lot easier to go easy on the paper towels. These are made of flannel cotton that actually gets more absorbent the more it’s washed, plus the fabric clings to the roll so there’s an efficient way to store them (that isn’t just shoved into a drawer).

No sun, no problem — you can give the gift of glowy skin this winter. This dry body oil includes powerhouse ingredients like Vitamin C, CoQlO, and Gardenia extract for a golden shimmer that sinks in easily as it moisturizes and nurtures dry skin. Sunday Riley is a certified B Corp, which means the brand meets rigorous standards of social and environmental performance.

Diamonds maybe forever, but they can also be mined in ways that aren’t mindful of the earth or the people doing the labor. These gorgeous diamonds are ethically-mined and 10% of each purchase is donated to Feeding America’s COVID-19 Response Fund. This is a gift worth splurging on for someone you love or for yourself.

For a friend who’s never without tea or coffee, there’s this amazing reusable cup from Stojo. It comes in tons of bright colors, it’s super lightweight, plus it’s collapsible, so it takes up very little space and it’s made using the highest food safety standards. This  24-ounce cup is for the Venti-lovers out there, but it comes in smaller sizes too.

Whoever uses this carafe with its handcrafted wooden lid will feel like they’re in an upscale hotel and not their kitchen. It’s made from vitreous china which is a strong ceramic that won’t chip easily, and it comes in four great colors: white, grey, coral, or rose, all glazed by hand. Made with sustainably sourced materials, these will add a touch of minimalist chicness to any room.

Paper culture has a personalized memory game the whole family can get in on. You can upload 16 unique photos that will be turned into sets of matching cards for the game. These are made of 100% post-consumer recycled paper and with every order, the brand plants a tree (that you’ll have the option to dedicate to someone).

Baskets are so useful, especially for friends with young kids who leave toys everywhere. This one is made of  beautifully-crafted Kinkanhe grass, vegetable dyes and leather handles, so it will last a long time, but when it’s time, it will biodegrade or as the website says, “will gently return to the earth.”

It’s surprisingly hard to find a journal that both looks great and is made sustainably, but this one does the trick. It’s made of 100% recycled paper and printed with soy inks, so it’s easy on the earth while the print celebrates nature with its mushrooms, leaves, and wildflower motif.

This set comes with two little leather pouches perfect for holding keys, change, lip products, and other essentials that fall to the bottom of the bag. Cut and sewn by hand in a family-owned Argentinian workshop, these bags are as durable as they are pretty (and there are so many colors to choose from). The leather is  Leather Working Group (LWG) certified, meaning its tanned sustainably and in compliance with energy and water consumption measures.

This glass tumbler makes it easy for anyone to make their life a little more green. Not only is it made of glass, but the lid is bamboo and all parts are BPA/BPS free.

Switching up the showerhead is an easy way to save a lot of water. The average eight-minute shower uses 17 gallons of water with a normal showerhead and making this quick switch can save as much as 2600 gallons of water per year (and that’s in a one-person household). You may want to snag this for your own house, too.

Instead of plastic bags at the grocery store, help your friends and family make the switch to these reusable cotton and hemp produce bags. This set comes with a total of seven bags; the hemp ones have no holes in them and are designed with the bulk aisle in mind (or coffee beans) and the net cotton bags are great for fruits and veggies.

If 2020 has taught us anything it’s that sweatpants can be stylish, and this pair is just about as sustainable as they come. Made of organic cotton and recycled polyester, they’re treated with hemp and lavender oil so they smell fresh (and you use less water) plus these are made in a windmill-powered, Fair Trade Certified™ facility.

This candle blends the scent of honey, sweet orange, and burnt wood for a heady fragrance that’s sweet and smokey at once. It’s packaged in an artisan mouth-blown grey glass vessel and when the candle burns down, it’s drink-safe and can be used as a glass (or a vase or a pencil holder).