4 eco-friendly gifting ideas for kids this Christmas
What is a sustainable or eco-friendly gift?
A sustainable gift is one that has minimum impact on the environment. Not easy to do when kids toys are wrapped in oceans of plastic!
Eco-friendly gifting is important to help reduce our carbon footprint and reduce waste. It helps our children, the next generation, learn about what it means to value our planet.
I recently spoke to Sharon from Jiminy.ie - Ireland’s only eco toy shop. We talked about how we can give gifts more sustainably at Christmas.
Sharon’s top tips on how to gift kids sustainably this Christmas
Eco gift idea 1 - give the gift of an experience.
A trip to the cinema, a day at the zoo, a mini-holiday. These are gifts that the kids will remember long after they have tossed that new toy under their bed!
Giving an experience as a gift means minimal packaging and wrapping. An experience is practically a zero waste gift1
Eco gift idea 2 - buy one big gift for your child rather than lots of little ones.
Or get aunts and uncles and grannies to club together to buy bigger gifts therefore minimising packaging.
This also means they can get the child something they might really want but is outside the budget of one person on their own.
Eco gift idea 3 - buy preloved toys/clothes/gifts.
Young children will not really know the difference between brand new and second-hand toys. Make sure the preloved toys are clean and then wrap them nicely for eco friendly winning gifting!
Check out what’s available in your local Freecycle group, your neighbourhood charity shop (we’re big fans of St. Vincent de Paul shops) or swop with your friends.
Eco gift idea 4 - buy sustainable gifts
If you are going to buy a new gift for a child this Christmas, then try and make it a sustainable one! Sharon has some amazing options on her eco-toy shop here. Cogs Toy and Games has great eco-toy ideas here.
Or you can check out our shop here for items that have eco-credentials as well!