christmas ideas for the treehuggers on your list

I’m reading Bill McKibben’s Hundred Dollar Holiday, so I’m feeling a little disingenuous with these Christmas lists, especially this one. But I do love giving (and getting) a really thoughtful gift, so I figured you might enjoy a few ideas of things that I’ve found and loved – from one treehugger to another. I’m keeping them inexpensive and thoughtful – add your favorites in the comments!

• Make a compost bin (or a vermicomposting bin) for that special someone.

• Kitchen compost bucket: Grant bought me one of these last year. Before, we just put the compost in an old bowl next to the sink, which wasn’t the most attractive thing to have on the counter 24-7. This bucket stores about three days’ worth of food at our house, so we don’t have to truck it down to the compost bin quite as often (which isn’t a big deal in the summer, but gets a little chilly around this time of the year).

• Cuppows: I LOVE these things. We use these for J’s cups, so that we can use glass instead of plastic cups for him without worrying that he’s going to have disastrous spills when he isn’t paying attention. We use canning jars as our drinking glasses, so these things are especially wonderful for us to have around because I can just throw on a Cuppow to my drinking glass when I want to take a drink with me on the go.

• Potted herbs. Nothing can take a simple meal to the next level like fresh herbs (and maybe butter).

• Stainless steel cleaning cloth: These things are AMAZING if you have stainless steel anything in your house. We have stainless steel appliances and two small children, which means they pretty much always look disgusting. I had pretty much resigned myself to them always looking that way until I tried one of these things. You just use water, so it cuts down on waste and chemicals. I have a general purpose e-cloth as well, which works great on windows and mirrors and just about anything else I have to clean. This starter pack might be the way to go to cover all of your bases.

• Reusable paper towels: We cut out paper towels several years ago and haven’t looked back because of these things. We have three of them and just keep them under the sink for the inevitable (and daily) toddler spills. They absorb something like fifteen times their own weight. They’re made of biodegradable components and supposedly breakdown on their own after repeated use, but I think we’ve been on the same set for four+ years now.

• Cotton napkins: We just use cotton washcloths, but there are tons of fun options on Etsy, or you can make your own (without a sewing machine!).

• Sprout screen: Sprouting seeds and grains is super healthy. I go in spurts with it, but we always love when we have sprouts around to add to all sorts of dishes. This screen/lid fits on wide mouth glass jars, so it makes sprouting easy and doesn’t take up much space when you forget to sprout anything for three months (oh wait, that’s just me?).

• Locally roasted coffee or locally grown tea. I love Humboldt County Tea in Carmel and Harvest Cafe in Indianapolis for you locals.

• Reusable sandwich/snack bags: We use these nearly every day to pack our or the kids’ lunches. We have a few different varieties that we use depending on what’s going inside them: a zippered one for smaller things, a foldover one for sandwiches, and a velcro one for veggies.

• Locally made soaps: Grant knows that he can’t go wrong with anything for me from Herbal Arts. I love their dirt soap for the kitchen, the rosemary and mint soap for the shower (and my hair!), and their face lotion. I know I can trust the ingredients, and I haven’t found anything that I haven’t loved from the store.

• Experiences/time: Gifts of experiences or time are about the greenest there are. Museum passes, movie tickets, a babysitting night for friends with small children…they’re not only zero waste, but giving of your time is the most valuable and appreciated gift you can give.

• Homemade jams, sauces, etc.: My favorite gifts to give or receive are homemade gifts. I’m not very crafty, but I’m decent in the kitchen so the people on my list this year will be receiving jars of the following: spicy tomato chutney, vanilla pear butter, strawberry rhubarb butter, pickled banana peppers, salsa verde, and possibly some fermented concoctions that I’m working on.

Add your favorite ideas in the comments!