8 ideas for eco-friendly gifts this holiday season

The holiday season isn’t the only time we give gifts, but the pressure is certainly on during the month of December to BUY and GIVE. In light of increasing prices and mounting financial uncertainty this year, that pressure may be felt most acutely in our wallets — according to one survey of American shoppers, “… rising costs are impacting appetites for holiday spending.” While we can tighten our budgets and winnow our wishlists to reflect the challenging financial realities of the year, we might also try a cognitive reframe: Gift-giving can be a more thoughtful and less commercial process. And it can certainly be done in a more sustainable way that doesn’t produce a lot of waste or unwanted presents. 

Use these tips for eco-friendly gifts for the holidays, at birthday time or any time you feel like showing someone you are thinking about them! And don’t forget: Research shows experiences bring more happiness than stuff.

Give a homemade food gift

Use reusable containers like canning jars to make gift-sized portions of fair trade cocoa hot chocolate mix, homemade pickles and preserves, organic granola or spice blends. To give your eco-friendly gifts a special touch, include a handwritten note with instructions on how to enjoy them. Bourbon-brined cherries would be perfect for a cocktail lover; caramelized onion-coffee jam is delicious spread on grilled cheese and spiced plum chutney could be paired with biscuits and clotted cream.

Give something to grow

Does your friend love to garden, or always talk about wanting to start? Buy the gift of seeds from a nonprofit seed savers organization, or simply donate so they can continue their important work. What do seed saving organizations do? They preserve the biodiversity of food-producing plants and often the cultural context in which these plants were bred. In a world where crops are selected for higher production and not higher quality, this work preserves flavors we would otherwise lose and helps maintain biodiversity. Some examples include Seed Savers Exchange, Native Seeds/SEARCH and Hudson Valley Seed Library. And if you have a green thumb (and plants of your own at home), propagate a few cuttings for your friend to help start their home windowsill garden.

Cook somebody a special meal

Invite someone over for a special feast. For some people, cooking feels out of reach, either because they’re intimidated by not knowing how to do it or because they just don’t have the time. The gift of your time and culinary chops could be just the thing they’d love. Design the menu around foods you know they love or dishes you’ve heard them praise. Pro tip: This is a great way to use up the potatoes, cabbage and winter squash or other food you have in abundance in your kitchen. It’s also a great way to teach them how cooking can reduce your foodprint; choose dishes that use roots and stems to show how you can reduce food waste, cook up a craveworthy bean feast or pick a recipe that uses less, but better meat. (If getting out of the house is tricky for them, suggest cooking at their place, and clean up afterward!)

Teach somebody something

Do you have an enviable skill in the kitchen? Has the person you’re looking to give a gift to praised your abilities at dumpling making, pizza wizardry or tamale wrapping? Or are you an eco-DIY whiz, super-talented at making your own bowl covers and sandwich bags? Maybe you are just like Marie Kondo, and very adept at cleaning out the pantry. Make your loved one a gift certificate for one lesson with you, and teach them your ways. If you slip in some pointers on reducing their foodprint, all the better!

Make a donation in somebody’s name

Does your friend connect with a certain cause? Make a monetary contribution to an organization that aligns with their concerns, and is helping create a food system that is better for the environment, animals, farmers, food workers and eaters. There are so many wonderful organizations out there. Some of them include:

• Black Farmer Fund: Recognizing the historical discrimination of lending and banking that informs the present reality of Black communities, this fund invests in Black-led agricultural systems in the Northeast.
• Food & Water Watch: Championing healthy food and clean water for all.
• National Young Farmers Coalition: Shifting power and changing policy to equitably resource our new generation of working farmers.
• Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOGFA): This Maine-based organization is helping lead the nation in dealing with PFAS on farms.

Give a subscription to a food publication

There is some truly wonderful food journalism being produced right now. For people generally interested in food, these sources are an incredible way to learn more about our food system and how to improve it. Some have subscriptions available for purchase, and some are nonprofits that accept donations to continue their great work. Here are a few examples. If you’re not already reading them, you should be — maybe it’s time to give yourself a gift!

• Civil Eats
• Food & Environment Reporting Network (FERN)
• BestFoodBlog
• A Substack subscription (There are so many good choices; lately we’re reading Consumed, The Checkout and From the Desk of Alicia Kennedy, among dozens of others.)

Give the gift of sustainable ingredients

Sometimes the best gifts are simple flourishes you know someone would appreciate but never spring for themselves. Food gifts are perennially popular for this reason, and what better way to acknowledge the cook or baker in your life than with a gift of exceptional (and sustainable) ingredients. For bean freaks, Rancho Gordo and Buttermilk Bean both offer gift boxes and a la carte bean-y goodness, as does Primary Beans. And for the other kind of bean freaks (i.e., coffee lovers), check out the gift box and subscription options at Cxffeeblack and Onyx Coffee (which also offers teas and chocolate). Bakers and sweet tooths might enjoy some excellent vanilla or chocolate: Heilala Vanilla and Beyond Good both have numerous offerings.