Environmentally-Friendly Gifts Can Be FUN!

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by Texas Homesteader ~
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I’m very environmentally aware in almost everything I do. Now I don’t expect everyone to see things the way I do, we’re all different & and that’s a wonderful thing – being very environmentally aware is just part of who I am. For me, if at all possible I’d love to give gifts with a lighter footprint.

But with all the competition this time of year to grab the attention of your holiday gift receivers you’ve got to wonder, can you really give more environmentally-friendly gifts that they’ll actually love? As it turns out, yes.

Can you really give environmentally-friendly gifts that they'll actually love? As it turns out, yes! See my low-waste options. #TexasHomesteader

Low-Waste Hygiene

I hate those light-weight plastic razors so I’ve owned and exclusively used a vintage Gillette safety razor for several years, but RancherMan’s always used the disposable ones.  So I’m GIDDY that he has asked for a real honest-to-goodness safety razor for Christmas! No more plastic disposable razors in the Taylor Household, can you hear the choirs singing?? 

I got him this vintage nickel-plated Gillette SuperSpeed beauty from the 1960’s and it’s as clean as a whistle.  (He wanted a vintage razor but you can buy new *safety razors very inexpensively) 

Low-Waste Razor Blades

As if that wasn’t enough to get excited about, he ALSO asked for this box of * double-edged blades to go with it. Why these blades when you can buy a little plastic box of five blades at Dollar General for a buck??  Well these blades are paper wrapped and come in a cardboard box – no plastic at all! My little crunchy-green heart is just singing!!

Can you really give environmentally-friendly gifts that they'll actually love? As it turns out, yes! See my low-waste options. #TexasHomesteader

Experience Gifts

There are other environmentally friendly options – what about giving “experience” gifts?  Although each year we usually give homemade Christmas gifts we still purchased toys for our grandbabies.  But this year will be different.

Our kids have said that they’re wanting to pull away from the holiday excess that’s been lavished on the children in the past. So this year they have asked for non-consumer gifts for the grandbabies. (oh yeah, you know that makes me happy!)

So RancherMan & I have decided to give experience gifts to our grandbabies this year (ages five to eleven).

There are lots of options and we’re having so much fun planning. We really loved taking them to the Ft. Worth Stock Show & Rodeo. Aside from the stock show events they have a midway, petting zoo and lots fun things for kids to do.

Can you really give environmentally-friendly gifts that they'll actually love? As it turns out, yes! See my low-waste options. #TexasHomesteader

Of course there are many other experience-gift options such as taking them to museums, exhibits or maybe lunch and a movie with an ice cream treat afterwards. We’ve taken them Rock Climbing and enjoyed hours at a Ninja Warrior Obstacle Park. It’s always a blast & we really look forward to our new tradition. These memories will far outlast any toy we could have purchased for them.

Edible Gifts

And of course gifts of food are often an environmentally-friendly gift option. This year RancherMan is making for me one of my absolute favorite decadent treats – triple chocolate truffles! He’ll be using the same recipe he used when he made me Mint-Chocolate Truffles for Valentine’s Day. Oh my, I can’t wait!

(although I’ve asked for a 1/2 batch this time because I have no willpower want to watch my girlish figure.  eh hem…)

In my opinion homemade gifts are priceless because they’re presented with something that can’t be bought – true gifts of love. We’ve been presenting homemade Christmas gifts to our family & friends for several years & I’ve written about our homemade gifts from years gone by – both food-related as well as project related. Feel free to peruse that post here to see what gifts we’ve given in the past. Those gifts have always been made with love and have been well received by our friends & family.

Magazine Subscriptions

But what if your loved one lives far away? Magazine subscriptions are a fun way to give a gift over & over throughout the year. One of my favorite publications is Mother Earth Magazine. It’s chock full of hints & tips for DIY, MIY, self-sufficiency. And every now & then you might actually see an article published in this magazine from MOI!  🙂

So there is a quick list of fun yet environmentally-friendly gifts. Delightful to give OR receive! What about you – what are your favorite gifts to give & get?

~TxH~

Other Christmas Posts You Might Like:

Gift Ideas

Low-Waste Gift Wrapping & Presentation

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20 thoughts on “Environmentally-Friendly Gifts Can Be FUN!”

    1. Texas Homesteader Post author

      I think there are lots of parents who are asking friends & family to pull the plug on mountains of toys for their kids. Seems like a win/win for the gift giver as well as the recipients. Yea! ~TMH~

      Reply ↓
  2. Nancy W

    Great post! Thank you so much for sharing it on Our Simple Homestead Blog Hop last week! As one of the co-hosts I will be featuring your post this week! Hope to see you again!
    -Nancy (Nancy On The Home Front)

    Reply ↓
  3. Nancy

    A couple of years ago we started doing something to help our daughter and son-in-law around their home and they did something with us. They helped us try to drill a well point for our own suburban water supply. We had loads of fun and multiple tries getting down about 16m but ended up this year paying for a professional borehole which is down to 42m and flows well. I helped with clearing rubble and other jobs while they were at work and having sewerage and foundation damp repairs to their home. My husband started making them a wooden cupboard…still to be finished. They also helped with the honey harvest. We live in suburbia in Cape Town, South Africa so it is Summertime now and there are water restrictions…my garden is thriving on the ground water. They however are living in California currently so till they get back we can’t do a similar thing but I’m sure we will go back to doing things to bless and help rather than giving bought ready made things for Christmas.

    Reply ↓
  4. Terri Presser

    Thanks for sharing this at Good Morning Mondays, some great ideas. I don’t really mind what I get or how much it costs, I just love it when my family think about it and get me something they think I would like. Have a blessed Christmas. Blessings

    Reply ↓
    1. Texas Homesteader Post author

      The gifts always make up so much of the pressure we seem to all experience at Christmas so we’ve tried to scale it back to make it much less the center of attention. Our children are now following our footsteps with their children, our grandbabies, and scaling way back and focusing on other instead of themselves. I think there are many people who are just becoming aware of how ridiculous the gift thing has gotten over the years and are wanting to step back and refocus. ~TMR~

      Reply ↓
  5. Carrie Groneman

    I LOVE this post! The idea of a gift of ‘experience’ with the grandkids is one of the best ever. I featured you on my fb page and hope you will link up to Wonderful Wed Blog Hop again next week. Carrie, A Mother’s Shadow

    Reply ↓
    1. Texas Homesteader Post author

      Thank you for the FB feature Carrie. We’re pretty pleased that we’ll be able to give experience gifts this year to our grandbabies. It’s pretty much a win/win – we get to spend time with our grandkids and they get to have fun with their grandparents. ~TMR~

      Reply ↓
  7. Nicole @Little Blog on the Homestead

    I’m with you, I love food recipes but man it’s hard to have them around and not eat them all before they are given out! I love giving homemade spa products, way more eco-friendly (and chemical free) than store bought stuff, I put them in glass jars that are really pretty and then whenever they run out they can either return the jar (and I’ll usually refill it) or keep and use it for something else.

    Reply ↓
    1. Texas Homesteader Post author

      I love your spa products idea Nicole. Last year our daughter made whipped coconut oil moisturizer with Frankincense EO, as well as lavender bath salts. LOVED THEM! I’ve never made spa products but I’d love to give it a spin, maybe part of our gift baskets next year. Hummmm… ~TMR~

      Reply ↓
  8. CTY

    Want to give a great gift that is DIY, inexpensive, helps the environment, gets everyone outside, gives time with loved ones, and forges memories all rolled into one? Make seed bombs from vegan gel caps, a bit of organic potting soil and some seeds (about 2 seeds/cap). For added fun make some slingshots for firing those bombs into hard to reach places.
    Merry Christmas!

    Reply ↓
  9. Green Living Fpr The Lazy And Spoiled

    I love this post! I am still giving some major gifts to my daughters and grandchildren but most of them are very useful – sewing machine etc. Hopefully some of these things will last a lifetime and not end up in a landfill in a few months. Of course many gifts will be food! My daughters say that I’m their CSA. We have just over a half acre but we’re putting it to good use.

    Reply ↓

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