We have our staple gift ideas we resort to when inspiration fails- toiletries, a bottle of wine, socks to name just a few. However, increasing awareness about the dangers these products pose to the environment- deforestation as a result of sheep farming to obtain the wool, the air-miles racked up transporting wine across the world, the cost of packaging for toiletries- means that people have to re-think how they choose and obtain these gifts. Here is a guide to finding eco-friendly versions of your gifts.
Flowers: A bunch of flowers often makes the perfect gift, whether it’s a thank you for a nice meal or congratulations on a Christening. However, the use of pesticides, packaging and other environmentally damaging things used to grow them can cause problems for people who want to be environmentally friendly. One option is to go to environmentally sound companies like Interflora; the company has a policy on reducing carbon emissions and is aiming to become carbon neutral. They also use minimal packaging and opt for flowers grown in the UK.*
Toiletries: With many toiletries the chemicals that go in to making them have side-effects which damage the environment, and that’s not to mention the animal testing some companies still use. However, several companies have started to make environmentally friendly toiletry ranges. One of these is Lush, a company which can be found on almost any high street. They make products from 100% natural ingredients, don’t use animal testing and use only recycled packaging. They also sell a wide range of attractive, varied gift boxes, making them a great place to stop to look for environmentally friendly gift sets.
Wool: For a little bit of luxury in a present few things can beat a nice woolly jumper, or scarf, or socks. However, the demand for huge quantities of wool has led to massive deforestation and wool is often shipped from all over the country, meaning damage is being done in the form of car emissions. There are several ways to avoid this. One is to buy your wool products from the local area; a good place to look is at local farmers markets or even at the farms themselves. It doesn’t even need to be sheep wool; there is a growing market for Alpaca wool which, as well as being softer, makes your present just that little bit more unusual and interesting.
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