Published 29 November 2021

Your Very Merry Sustainable Christmas gift guide

‘Tis the season to think sustainable, be ethical and #SupportLocal. It is the time of year where you get to show your loved ones, and your extended loved ones, how much you care about them.

If you’re a big fan of gift-giving, our Very Merry Sustainable Christmas Gift Guide for 2021 is the perfect place to start.

1. At the top of our Christmas Gift Guide list (and in line with the zero-waste hierarchy): give the gift of a fun experience. Front of House hero, Vishal said that one of the best gifts he received was an annual membership to Wellington Zoo. He would pack a picnic and pop over to the zoo for lunch with the kids. Zealandia offers a range of memberships too if that’s more up your alley.

2. Give your presence over presents. Who doesn’t love a homecooked meal? No one, that’s who. Give the gift of a homecooked meal and spend the rest of the time making memories.

3. Next up, give the gift of giving. What is that you ask? It’s a gift that gives someone else a gift. Some of our personal favourites are:

   • Christmas Box. For $30 you could help provide food essentials and Christmas treats to a family in need. Donate and send your loved one a copy of the receipt.

   • Good Bitches Baking: GBB is a network of people who bake treats for those in their community who are having a rough time.

   • Donate a Day for Play: Sponsor a child from a family that has come in to contact with a social service agency to attend our Wilderkids School Holiday Programme for free. It’s a fun-filled day for kids and it gives the parents some ‘them time’ too.

   • Trees That Count: Gift a native tree and help create healthier communities and more beautiful NZ.

4. Shop second hand. Presents don't need to be brand new. Keep an eye out on Trade Me for a Crown Lynn vase for your Mum, grab a pack of wooden train tracks for the kids from the op shop and package them in a nice box.

5. DIY yum stuff in a jar. The world is your oyster with this one. Layer all the dry ingredients needed to bake cookies, a cake, or cupcakes in a jar, put a cute fabric ribbon on it and give it as a gift. If your giftee isn’t a baker but likes lollies, you can stack a jar with their favourite lollies instead. Check out the cute one Susie made.

6. Personalised art. Commission a local artist to draw up a personalised piece of art. Check out the super cute one we had done for our head honcho, Georgie.

7. If you’re looking to gift clothing, choose a local and ethical provider. We absolutely love Little Yellow Bird because they use certified organic cotton for all their products. Before COVID-19, Sam (founder and owner) would regularly visit the cotton farms and factories to make sure she was sourcing cotton from ethical sources. On top of this, LYB is partnering up with a network of local designers, thrifters and up-cyclers to keep textiles out of landfill. To date, they’ve saved more than 5,800kg of textile waste from being sent to landfill. Oh - and when you’re done with any LYB item, you can drop it off to us to be recycled.

8. Refill, refill, refill and recycle. Have you seen the double-walled hot and cold stainless steel drink bottles by Chunky? They’re awesome and each is covered in a design by upcoming local or international artists. When you’ve eventually banged it up beyond use, you can drop it off to us to be recycled as a part of our metal recycling programme or you can drop it off to any of their participating retailers to be recycled as a part of their bottle recycling scheme.

9. Wine. Give wine. But give them wine from Round Theory Wines. Why? Round Theory Wines are sustainably grown and sourced, and their lightweight packaging (30% less glass used) reduces its environmental impact. They’re Climate Positive and aim to offset at least double the amount of carbon they use by allocating their carbon credits to conservation and preservation projects worldwide. Great wines, for the greater good.

10. Last up, give the gift of a zero-waste life with these awesome locally made PUL lined food safe bowl covers. It might seem like an odd gift at the time, but we guarantee that the recipient will wonder how they ever lived without them.

Of course, remember to wrap your gifts responsibly. Di got some fabric offcuts from the Wellington Curtain Bank three years ago and she’s still using it. Apparently, she asks the giftee to return the fabric every time.