Small Gifts

This Waste Not Wednesday, let’s talk about stocking stuffers and other small gifts! As we talked about last week, sometimes our obsession with small, singly packaged items adds up to a big problem in plastic. If you celebrate the holidays and are giving out gifts that are too small to wrap, we have both some gift and wrapping ideas for you today!

First up: small gift ideas! As a store that specializes in sustainable options for your home, we’re full of them! These are just some of the giftable self-care, travel, and cleaning items that we sell: relaxing shower steamers, hair care bars, toothpaste bites, wonderful smelling soaps and soap savers, lotion, cute non-paper cloth towels in patterns of every kind (and good for every kind of purpose), and natural scrubbing brushes. You can get items like this separately or gather together to make up a gift basket for a friend or teacher as well. In addition, you could buy from other local vendors with minimal packaging or buy in bulk and split items into smaller gifts for multiple people.  And homemade gifts are always great (cookies, mittens, and pies, oh my!).

Secondly, half the fun of gifts is the packaging. What isn’t fun is tons of trash in our environment after everything is opened. Using natural, biodegradable materials like paper, twine, bits of foliage, burlap, etc. are a stylish and environmentally friendly way to dress up a gift. An easy way to wrap is to use plain paper or fabric and add flourishes like little branch of pine needles tucked under a cloth ribbon, stamps, or doodled designs. If wrapping isn’t your forte, you can always gather your items into a reusable bag or a basket, stuffing with shredded paper instead of plastic and topping with a ribbon.

Sustainable gifts are easier to find this holiday season thanks to increasing awareness of the end-life of products and a demand for eco-friendly alternatives. Homemade gifts are on the rise too, as people recognize the quality and care taken in making these items. That’s why Sankoty Sustainables is here: to make sustainability easy, so that you can relax and enjoy the magic of the holiday season without the worry!