A Guide to Eco-Friendly Gift Giving – Blue Ocean Society for Marine Conservation

The holidays are a wonderful time full of celebrations. But they are also full of a lot of garbage.

Did you know? According to the EPA, Americans produce 25% more trash from Thanksgiving to New Year’s than the rest of the year. During this time, Americans throw away approximately 1 million extra tons a week, totaling about 25 million additional tons of waste.

This garbage must go somewhere, and most likely, it will end up in a landfill. Once in the landfill, the waste begins to undergo bacterial decomposition, producing something called “landfill gas.” Landfill gas contains methane, carbon dioxide, and water vapor. Methane and carbon dioxide are two of the largest culprits for climate change, and to put it simply, climate change hurts everyone and everything.

So What Can You Do About It?

You can start by making just a few adjustments to your gift-giving habits. Use this guide to help pick gifts that produce less waste!

Skip the Wrapping Paper

A massive portion of the increased garbage is from gift wrapping material, such as non-recyclable tape, wrapping paper, and ribbon. Standard rolls of wrapping paper are not recyclable because they are coated paper and may contain many contaminants, such as inks, dyes, and glitter. There are many great alternatives, such as using a reusable bag or tins, old newspapers, your child’s drawings, or even brown paper grocery bags.

For inspiration, check out the link below.

Eco-Friendly Gift Wrapping

Try a reusable tin or make a gift card holder from an old holiday card instead!

Give an Experience

Instead of giving someone an item, provide them with an experience! These can be extremely thoughtful gifts and produce no unnecessary waste!

Ideas Include:

Tickets- movie, theater or concert
Memberships – to the zoo, a museum or a swim club
Laser Tag passes
Subscriptions to a streaming service such as Spotify or Netflix
Gift Cards- for massages, restaurants or even groceries

Give an Experience
Instead of giving someone an item, gift them an experience! These can be highly thoughtful gifts and produce no unnecessary waste!
Ideas Include:
- Tickets- movie, theater, or concert
- Memberships – to a zoo, a museum, or a swim club
- Laser tag passes
- Subscriptions to a streaming service such as Spotify or Netflix
- Gift cards- for massages, restaurants, gas, or groceries

Give a Service

One of the best gifts you can give is your time. Give a certificate or coupon for a chore or some other task that the other person can redeem

Some ideas include:

A free night of babysitting
Washing/detailing a car
Snow removal

Homemade Gifts

There are many eco-friendly options when it comes to homemade gifts, such as…

Bake! Who doesn’t love a fresh batch of cookies or bread?
Knit/Crochet a blanket or hat
Homemade body scrub

Give a Reusable Gift

Help your loved ones reduce their environmental impact year-round with gifts like…

A Reusable straw kit
Battery charger with rechargeable batteries
A plastic free lunch set

Gift to the Environment

Use the money you would spend on a gift to do some good in the person’s name. Or purchase from companies that donate their profits to charities for environmental movements