Where can I get 'green' presents

bektoria

Morning everyone,

I am stuck for some Christmas presents and thought that rather than buying presents for the sake of it, I would like to buy items which are eco friendly, benefit others etc.

I have the Oxfam catalogue and have visted the WWF website for the string bags, any other ideas ?

Many thanks,
Bek

arkonite_babe

www.traidcraftshop.co.uk for some nice ideas or there is also www.greenshop.co.uk which has some alternative items.

See if these are of any help!

a_b

zar

Fairtrade chocolates benefit everyone!

There are lots of online fairtrade shops - try googling fairtrade gifts. If you want to do one of the "give a goat" schemes there are quite a few organisations doing it now so you can find something at any price. I think the gift of chickens would be an appropriate OS present :j

http://worldgifts.cafod.org.uk/worldgifts/a_wide_choice_of_gifts/21_to_give_chickens

As for green gifts... hmm how about something practical like a compost bin or energy saving lightbulbs - they might be too prosaic depending on who you are buying for! Overpackaged Chirstmas gift packs are obviously not very green, so steer clear of those. Local, preferably organic food would be a good present as cutting down on food miles and benefits wildlife, how about visiting your local Christmas bazaars and farm shops/farmers markets in search of apple juice (the alcoholic variety if you prefer) jam and local honey, or even something like special sausages (although I don't recommend that these get wrapped up and left under the Christmas tree!)

GreenFingers_2

Hello Becktoria

Try this wonderful site. As well as lists of traders and shops it also has lots of great ideas, information, forums and so on for the those who are Green or Greenish.

http://www.downsizer.net/

Hope this helps.

Lillibet_2

Cancer Research shops have a range of fair trade gifts made from sustainable forests, an especailly good line in childrens gifts if you have little ones to buy for (who won't really appreciate a gift of a goat in another country to a family they won't know:cool:)

HTH

arkonite_babe

I got the following site sent to me via email this afternoon

http://www.oxfamunwrapped.com/

Have a look at that one also for ideas

lily_the_pink

try these

People Tree - clothing (v expensive but I suspect this is the real cost of clothing if it is organic and fair trade - scary)http://www.ptree.co.uk/index.html

Centre for Alternative Technology - great day out (I went about 20 years ago with my ex-hippy parents and havent been back since but even then it was a good day out) - the shop has some really good stuff (real gardening tools for children - not pretend plastic ones)http://www.cat.org.uk/shopping/search.tmpl?subdir=Shopping

Green Choices is a portal site - with loads of green information as well as links to different suppliers. http://www.greenchoices.org/index.html

Green People make cosmetics http://www.greenpeople.co.uk/

wealthsaver

bektoria wrote:

I am stuck for some Christmas presents and thought that rather than buying presents for the sake of it, I would like to buy items which are eco friendly, benefit others etc.

I have also visited CAT like the other poster lily the pink and they have a great selection of gifts and books and Eco-Guides. http://www.cat.org.uk/shopping/search.tmpl

I also came across a site http://www.britisheco.com/ although I must warn people that the one thing I wanted was out of stock with no likelihood of the supplier having further delivery and I had trouble getting a refund from the company. I had to go for a refund from my credit card company disputed payment procedure. In fairness they did offer something else but nothing I wanted.

bugs

http://www.permaculture.co.uk/erc/new_books.html

The Earth Repair catalogue from Permaculture Magazine has lots of interesting books, and quite a few green "gadgets". A sub to the magazine is only £12.50 a year (4 issues) and is interesting although might be a bit much for "newcomers" to the subject. Eco-logic books has a similar type of range of fun and serious titles.

Also consider bits and pieces seeds/kits etc from the Organic Gardening Catalogue which helps the HDRA, or indeed HDRA and/or Heritage Seed Library membership.

Chipps

I had a catalogue from the Green Board Game Co, but I think it must have been recycled! I expect they have a website. Their games are very good for children. We have "Alpha Animals", which is good fun, and the playing pieces are beautiful hand carved wooden animals. I am pretty sure they have a website.

Chipps

Hi,
Just found the website for Green Board Games
http://www.greenboardgames.com/products.asp?cat_id=3