Take some time to think about the impact the gifts you are purchasing will have on the greater world and use this green gift guide to inspire you.
The holiday shopping season has officially begun and it is crazy out there. I’m encouraged to see more and more of us looking for safer, greener toys and other gifts that have been manufactured and packaged in ways that do not harm the environment. Gifts made with safer materials are also topping our lists. The good news is that there are plenty of greener gifts to choose from!
The New York Times recently interviewed me for an article on the best green gifts for children. The interview was wonderful, filled with thought provoking questions and great discussion. The New York Times published my children’s green gift suggestions HERE .
Not every toy on my list made it into the article so I wanted to share a few more holiday gift ideas before you finish your holiday shopping.
If you are looking for that perfect green gift for the children in your life hopefully some of these will inspire you.
EverEarth My First Activity Cube. Wood Shape Sorter, Bead Maze & Counting Baby Toy ($50 over 18 months)
EverEarth is a wonderful toy company making all toys from 100% FSC certified Beech wood. EverEarth prides itself on the use of sustainable resources, water based paints, recycled packaging, and manufacturing their products to the highest quality.
This highly stimulating, creative learning cube has moving beads, maze, shape sorter, abacus, moving cogs, counting blocks one to ten and many more moving parts. Perfect to encourage socializing and sharing as multiple children can use together.
Green Toys Block Set ($25 ages 1+)
These boldly colored, lightweight blocks include a variety of shapes for building castles, towers, or any imaginative structure. The set comes with 18 blocks made from 100% recycled plastic with no BPA, phthalates or PVC.
Hape Scientific Workbench ($80 ages 4+)
Learn more about science with this cool junior inventor workbench! It contains everything children as young as four need to conduct over 15 experiments and demonstrate key scientific principles.
Hape is the world’s largest producer of wooden toys. They use natural materials with a full line of bamboo toys that take advantage of this renewable resource. Plastic parts are ensured durable enough to last for generations in order to encourage toys to be passed down rather than tossed out.
Reusable Collapsible Stainless Steel Drinking Straw With Case($9 ages 6+)
This 2-pack is a great gift for the eco-concious child and parent who want to ditch the plastic straw. The two reusable straws are small when folded and convenient to carry. They are made of high quality stainless steel and come with a stainless steel cleaning brush which is long enough to clean the entire straw.
If you are looking for holiday gifts that keep on giving check out my suggestions HERE. For the tweens in your life this list of gifts will hopefully keep them busy. One of my favorite gifts is from this list of tech free gifts for tweens.
As we head into the holiday season it is important to take time to think about the impact each gift you are purchasing will have on the greater world. Try to find presents that are meaningful and also sustainable. Also, opt for lower-carbon delivery options when you can such as slower shipping or in-store pickup.
It is my hope that we will all focus on buying less and buying well throughout the year.
I may receive commissions from purchases made through links in this article. See my full disclosure HERE.