What kinds of eco-gifts are there & would you be inclined to give them?

Question

Recently I have been starting to give green or eco-gifts instead of buying things that would only contribute to environmental degradation including global warming. Last Christmas I gave solar powered flashlights and gift cards to a vegetarian restaurant. My girlfriend often gives food items like fancy jams and crackers.

If you think about all the gift giving out there like Christmas, birthdays, anniversaries, valentines day, baby showers, mother's as well as father's day and times these events by 6.5 billion people it does not take a brain surgeon to figure out that the world cannot sustain each individual getting and or giving non sustainable presents without great environmental devastation.

Answer 1

Somebody needs to make a gift size plutonium battery like they use on deep space probes to prove that nuclear energy can be safely used.

Answer 2

Actually, I have been thinking about giving such gifts recently as well.  I would not give such gifts to every person for every holiday, but I do think it would be a good idea to include some eco-friendly items (which reflect my personal views/interests) as part of my gift giving.

One example that I am considering is to give an "Adopt a Parrot Nestbox for the Threatened Parrots of Colombia" program.

The people I would give such a gift to also happen to share similar interests/values as I do, so I know it would not be considered something strange to the recipient.

Answer 3

My family decided a few years ago, that we all had too much "stuff" and we made a shift to more "aware" sorts of presents.  For instance:

Adopt an acre of rainforest:

http://www.nature.org/joinanddonate/adop...

(Gave one to my dad one Father's day.)

Adopt a sea turtle:

http://www.seaturtleinc.com/

(For my turtle-crazy nephew for a birthday)

Adopt an endangered animal:

https://secure.worldwildlife.org/ogc/ind...

(I adopted a lemur for my niece.)

This place has cool gifts made from recycled materials:

http://www.eco-artware.com/

(I got my husband a clock for his desk from here.)

We also, as an extended family, sponsored a child from SOS Children's Villages last Christmas, instead of the usual "white elephant" gift exchange.

http://www.sos-usa.org/cgi-bin/sos/jsp/h...

Answer 4

For a thoughtful eco-friendly gift, I like to bake up a nice, fresh moose t**d pie in my little solar oven.  Recycling at its finest!

Answer 5

GREAT QUESTION!!

I have started giving gifts like these as well.  The site I use is Greater Good...here is a link: http://www.greatergood.org/gtgm.html

They have a section called "Gifts that Give More".....there are eco-friendly gifts such as habitat preservation, animal welfare gifts for rescued animals, and humanitarian gifts.  For mother's day we gave my mom and my mother in law charitable donations in their names.  We did the "Supply a Burmese Village Clinic for a Day" gift......it went over very well and it was great to know that we were doing something more than just perfume and flowers.

It's a great site....I definitely recommend it.

Answer 6

For years I have given gifts of donations  in other people's names as a gift to them which serves a dual if not tripple purpose. It supports the cause, donates in the recipient's name and raises their consciousness to focus on the important issue in a positive way. Here is the latest of them

David Yarnold, Environmental Defense Action Fund     Moment of Truth on Climate - Your Gift Matched

Any of them you hold dear to you heart will suffice, Sierra Club, WWF, etc.

Answer 7

I would suggest buying books such as The Communist Manifesto written by Karl Marx  as it would reflect your way of thinking, apparently.