Eco Friendly Small Gift Guide
Years ago, switching to eco friendly products required a lot of effort and research. Now, it’s finally pretty easy to make some swaps for more eco friendly everyday products. There are local shops, and numerous online sites that are aggregating all things sustainable, now we don’t really have any excuses to not make the switch.
I know it doesn’t feel like much, and to truly make an impact on the planet we need to think much more upstream into the systems and policies that impact our planet. Will you single handedly save the planet? No. But these things are really quite easy and sometimes the best way to change policies is to hit them where it counts. Capitalism. If companies start losing money due to declining sales they will basically be forced to change their ways to survive. It’s not going to happen over night, but we’ve got to start somewhere.
Here’s some of my favorites and I may earn a small commission on some purchases that help keep this website up and running.
Loofah Sponge
Fillgood Co. | Loofah Sponge
There is just something about a new sponge. I love these for very specific reasons. In the spirit of TMI, I have Keratosis pilaris and I am always looking for a loofah with just the right texture to provide exfoliation without making my skin feel like it was going to fall off. You can find these at Target but they are usually hard as a rock and attached to a stick (I really don’t know why they found it necessary to only use them on your back). Whatever.
But did you know that these are actually grown on a farm? They are gourds! I had no idea until recently. These particular Loofah’s come from The Luffa Farm in California.
They also make excellent kitchen sponges and I cannot figure out why food doesn’t get stuck in them. Once they start falling apart just toss them in your compost.
You can buy them here.
There is literally no reason whatsoever to use plastic wrap. It doesn’t even work well, and it just gets thrown out in the trash where it just breaks into tinier and tinier pieces that end up in our water supply and even in our food eventually. It also costs money to keep buying over and over again just to throw it in the trash.
I’ve had my first set of beeswax wraps for exactly a year and they are still holding up well. The patterns are super cute and they come in 3 different sizes which cover just about anything that you need.
These are not compostable, but obviously better than plastic that can only be used once. The simplest trick to refresh your beeswax wraps is to pop them into the oven on a baking sheet on low heat to remelt and distribute the wax. This will deal with any creasing and cracking.
12 Piece Bamboo Cotton Rounds with Laundry Bag and Travel Pouch
Did you know that cotton is grown with a massive use of pesticides, fertilizers, and water. So, cotton should not be used as a single-use item. They're also packaged in flimsy throwaway plastics. Don’t even get me started on makeup wipes! There’s really just no reason for cotton balls or cotton rounds. Also, it’s just one more thing to run out of and have to make another trip to the store.
12 is the perfect amount, you can basically use them twice a day and not have to worry about laundry for nearly a week. We have a toddler so I don’t remember the last time I went a week without doing laundry.
I’m not really into these narwals, but the laundry bag is super helpful so they don’t become one with the lost socks.
Bambu Pots and Pans Bamboo Scraper
Fillgood |Bambu Pots and Pans Bamboo Scraper
I know this seems like a weird stocking stuffer, but I promise that any cook will really enjoy it. Even if they are like WTF is this?
It’s honestly one of my fave purchases this year and I feel like a total nerd. Maybe it’s because we have done SO MUCH cooking in 2020. We love to use our Greenpan frypans, and our dutch oven quite a bit, neither of which I want to scratch while trying to clean. We don’t even need to soak pans anymore, this little scraper gets in all the corners and edges. I bought this on a recent trip to Fillgood, which is a local refill store, but they also ship so check them out.
And at the end of its life, you can just compost it since it's only made of bamboo, without plastic!
Do you want to feel fancy? Tell your friends that you’re so bougie you floss with silk. I mean seriously, if the Kardashian’s knew this was a thing they’d be all over it. But they are too busy hawking dangerous weight loss products to teens on Instagram, so I guess not.
Borrowing from my friends at Fillgood, "If everyone in the U.S. flosses their teeth according to ADA recommendations, every year our empty containers alone would fill a landfill the size of a football field that's six stories high. Just for the empty floss dispensers. And the floss itself? You could circle the Earth with it 1,246 times. That's crazy!!”
So, just get different floss. I don’t think anyone is that emotionally invested with their current floss situation.
Just throw your used floss in your compost and tada! No waste.
10 Pack Cotton Mesh Reusable Produce Bags with Wood Toggles
I know that not everyone lives somewhere where you basically bring your own shopping bags, but it’s really not that hard.
We keep a bag stuffed with bags in our trunk, including these produce bags. Instead of using those crappy single use plastic bags to put 3 apples in, just toss them in one of these reusable produce bags.
If they get dirty just pop them in the wash and they are ready to go again.
They even have their weight sewn right into each tag so they can easily subject the weight from your produce.
Super simple.
So, there you have it. Your family might think you are weird for buying eco friendly gifts. But it can’t possibly be any weirder than a random pair of socks. Just throw some quality chocolate in for good measure.
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