Picking up poo for Christmas and other sustainable gifts

I'm a big fan of Rachel of the original San Francisco Compact (the buy nothing new group), and not only because she is the only person I've ever known who has given, as a Christmas gift, the promise to pick up a certain number of piles of other people's dog poop.

To contextualize, Rachel walks dogs, and I think she gave the gift to a client. In that same year, she asked, as a present from her dad, that he clean all the junk out of the trunk of his car to make it more gas efficient. That Christmas for Rachel was about giving and receiving gifts of sustainability. Really creative. Read more about it here.

Over on Sustainablog, Elizabeth Redmond writes that, after her family made gifts for a couple of years and then pooled funds to buy only one big gift for each member of the family for a couple more, they have decided to give donations to microfinancing charities:

Microfinance creates social lending networks that gives us lenders the opportunity to connect directly with borrowers who normally wouldn’t get the support of a bank.   This allows people in poor countries and rural areas who don’t have access to traditional banks or don’t have the credentials necessary for a bank loan, to start a business. (Check out Elizabeth's favorite places to give here).

As for me, and I've written about this in more detail, I like the idea of giving shared experiences--couples massage, theater tickets, live music tickets, for example. This works for me because it has the benefit of giving the people on my list who don't want my wacko environmentalism shoved down their throats something they want without littering the world with more stuff. And it has the benefit of bringing people together, too.

Comments

[Stacey]

When encouraging people to give to a great cause, Heifer.org is my favorite. They donate farm animals to families in need. I also heartily agree with giving the gift of experiences and not things, and I love passing along massage certificates to my friends and family. They love it and so does my friend, the massage therapist. And speaking of dog poo, what do you recommend for picking it up? We use old plastic bags, but would like a more eco-friendly option.

[Crunchy Chicken]

Oxfam is another good organization. Check out Waste Free Holidays or my post on green holiday gift giving.

As for the dog poo, I addressed the problem here.

[kelley]

i also love giving "experiences." i live across the country from most of my family, but i can do a little internet research on their locally-owned restaurants (salons, wine shops, etc.) and call the owner to send a gift certificate. they love it.

[Andy]

This is something I have a hard time with. My family asks for a few specific gifts, but I'd like to do something more sustainable too. I was considering giving them CFL bulbs, but what if that's something they are just going to throw in a closet and never use? I love the idea of experiences, and I will do that for my friends, but some of my family would never understand those kinds of gifts.

[CB]

Andy,

What about a bottle of champagne and some fine chocolate? Tickets to the movies (fandango.com)? I gave a friend a gift certificate to Whole Foods, which was really appreciated. Also, nice bags to take shopping (so one can always turn down plastic).

I love gifts that are consumable...something much finer than I usually have...a small can of organic matcha tea would be one of my favorite gifts this Christmas. I remember enjoying a very nice cheese that came in a ceramic pot that now holds garlic bulbs. I wanted to be proficient enough in pottery making to give gifts that I made this Christmas, but the studio had to close down because "art" is a luxury. Unfortunately, it was the best thing in a sterile big-box "town" that has no borders (runs into the next one) and no individual character after the City Fathers in the early 70s decided to tear down the downtown and replace it with a shopping mall surrounded by a parking lagoon. The mall has been out-of-fashion for years, and the parking servers the activity for the one block that wasn't torn down. The one remaining bit of character. I identify with the place two towns up that kept its downtown, but as a result has extremely high real estate (almost no shack under a million). When I'm up that way, I can walk and do all of my errands.

[arduous]

I've had a hard time with this too. Ideally, I'd love to give everyone experiences, but all the "experiences" that I would have wanted to get people were out of my price range!

I'm now going to make a few gifts for my family, and then I've made an effort to buy a couple things very lightly used.

[Heather]

The holidays are hard for me since I like to life simply, I don't really enjoy shopping (other than for food) and there is so much waste involved, not to mention that most of my family, if they want something, they just go out and buy it. But this year, I bought all local. I had some leftover/used gift bags from last year and I filled them with local pecans, honey, and jars of my homemade granola (super easy). That way I'm still giving something unique, something that will be used, and I'm supporting local businesses.

[Rebecca]

Those are some great holiday gift ideas not to mention I hate getting more stuff (stuff I probably wont use or enjoy). Thanks for the ideas and suggestions.
B

[Niki]

My husband and I rarely give each other gifts, more or less for both financial and environmental reasons. Last Christmas, when buying for relatives we shopped at local craft fairs and farms. We filled gift baskets with these locally produced goodies. It was really fun to see the results! And we were proud of just how much we were able to source...from kiwi sauce for ice cream, to soap, and garlic powder...the gifts were very much appreciated.

[Sarah]

For years we have been reducing what we exchange for the holidays. This year we decided to try giving our kids one gift each and then give them the gift of an experience: a Broadway show with mom for my 15 yo daughter, a professional hockey game with dad for my 9 yo son and a movie and dinner with mom and dad for our 4 yo son. We don't need more stuff in our house and getting a parent or both parents to one's self to do something you enjoy is a treat.

I no longer do holiday cards because I find them annoying and wasteful, but I do have an annual holiday party. This year I decided to have a white elephant party to recycle all those unwanted items we have around the house instead of my usual ornament party. I also ask the women to bring at least one item for a women's shelter. I am always amazed at how generous these women are.

My daughter met a elderly woman at her knitting group who always gives gifts that can be consumed (in recyclable containers, of course) or you know will be used. I thought this was a great idea and we are now applying it to birthdays and such. For example, my son has a favorite podcast called the Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd so we burn a CD to give them a taste and suggest they get the rest online. I personally like to give handmade soaps or specialty teas or home-baked goodies. Useful things that people appreciate.

Hope this sparks some further ideas here. I love to see what other people do.

[Lisa]

For a few years when I was in college I gave a relative 2 certificates for 2 hours of dusting, since I knew he hated to do it. I decorated them and added statements like 'Chasing the dust bunnies away since 1994!'

I also like the idea of a certificate for a class or two with a local person teaching knitting, pottery, etc. Or a certificate for a massage - this isn't something that some people will purchase for themselves.

And I'll second the food idea. My grandmother's raspberry jam was always a favorite gift (especially for people who don't make jam...). However, when we gave her good food, she always saved it for only when we came over, which wasn't quite what we had in mind! I was thinking of getting my mom some frozen pork sausages from a local farm. They are really good, and for whatever reason she's really cheap when it comes to buying meat. I can't decide if that is too odd of a gift or not.

[Brenna]

No impact man is a reat blog and a great environmental action! Thank you for sharing all your experiences.

For sustainable gift giving in our family my partner and I give adventures. This works for any age but we mostly give adventures to the children in our family because they certainly don't need another toy. The adventures we give usually include a meal that we make together with the child such as homemade pizza, homemade pasta (a real hit), crepes etc. and an adventure like going for a walk in the forest, building a raft, going skating, going swimming, going to family day at the local art gallery, or a lantern festival. The adventure depends on the child and on the time of year. We find this a great gift not only because it is pretty sustainable but because we get to spend time with our nieces and nephews which is really a gift to ourselves. Ad for other gifts we donate to causes we believe in or ones we feel the recipeint will appreciate.
This has given us much more time during December to enjoy what we love, family, friends, and time outside.

[Ana S.]

For this holiday season, I asked my family to green our house with CFL lightbulbs, greenswitches (that reduce phantom power), biodegradable trash bags, and cloth napkins.

I also asked my father, mother, and sister to write a personal plan of action to go green, with suggestions like "I will carry utensils and a to-go container with me outside the house and avoid using disposable products at restaurants or potlucks" or "I will stop buying and using plastic water bottles and tell everyone I know about their environmental effects."

For gifts, I donated to charity and planted trees in their name. The only material item I asked for was a SIGG water bottle!