Shop Smart and Save the Planet This Holiday Season

Shop Sustainably This Holiday Season and Give the Best Gift – A Greener Future for All

As the holiday season kicks into full gear, it’s understandable to feel a little overwhelmed about choosing the perfect gift for your loved ones. When trying to shop sustainably, it can become even more challenging. But One Planet Life is here to help you shop smart this year! Our holiday gift guide can help you find the perfect sustainable gifts for your friends and family.

Support Eco-Friendly Companies

Shop smart and be a conscious consumer by patroning B-Corporations.

Certified B Corporations participate in a thorough assessment to determine if their business practices are sustainable.  To receive the B Corp designation, the company must meet high standards of verified performance, accountability, and transparency on factors such as fair treatment of workers, customer service, and community and environmental impact.  

There are thousands of B-Corps (find the full list here!), but the following companies have caught our attention for going above and beyond.  They not only create products in a sustainable way, but also give back in meaningful ways to ensure our environment is treated with care.

Patagonia Works

Patagonia Works became one of California’s first B-Corporations in 2012. The outdoor apparel and gear company has been a leader in ethical business practices for decades. In September, founder Yvon Chouinard and his family announced they would transfer all ownership to two new entities: Patagonia Purpose Trust and the Holdfast Collective. This move establishes that every dollar not reinvested back into Patagonia will be distributed as dividends to protect the planet. Projections estimate an annual dividend of roughly $100 million. That will go a long way to fighting climate change!

“It will help ensure that there is never deviation from the intent of the founder and to facilitate what the company continues to do best: demonstrate as a for-profit business that capitalism can work for the planet,” a press release from the company explained.

Organic Basics

Organic Basics is a B-Corp that takes responsible fashion to the next level. Each garment, constructed from sustainable materials, carries an Impact Index that helps you better understand how the items you buy and wear contribute to your environmental footprint. This information is part of a larger effort, the Impact Report, that takes a holistic look at the company’s impact across several categories. Additionally, the company is a 1% for the Planet member, partnering with environmental groups and grassroots activists and donating the equivalent of 1% of sales to positive environmental efforts. 

“As a fashion brand, we have a massive responsibility to consider the environmental impact of our choices,” the company website reads. “Everything we do uses precious resources like water and energy and creates carbon emissions along the value chain.”

Grove Collaborative

Looking for gifts other than apparel? Grove Collaborative earned its B-Corp status in 2014 and has been growing its reach ever since. Known for its subscription boxes of home and personal care products that are better for the planet, Grove Collaborative focuses on curating products that “go easy on the Earth, prioritize sustainable packaging materials, and carbon offset every shipment that goes out the door.” The company has also implemented a five-year plan to move from its current status of 100% plastic neutral to 100% plastic-free by 2025.

Grove Collaborative has made it easy for eco-conscious holiday shoppers, featuring an array of eco-friendly brands and products for the beauty expert, chef, gardener, or pet-lover in your life. 

Thrifting is Trendy and Sustainable

Involved in an annual Secret Santa? Switch up the rules and see who can find the most outrageous gifts under $10.

The catch? You can only shop at your local thrift store! This year, my family decided to do a secret Santa book exchange with one caveat: we had to find a book at a thrift store. My husband and I plan to make a date night of scouring Goodwill stores and used bookstores to find some fun books for our designated gift receiver. 

If you plan to gift books this year and don’t have much luck locally, check out Better World Books. The company, funded through literacy grants, donates a book to match each one purchased. They also help keep books out of landfills by selling secondhand and have reached 87,000 tons of carbon offsets through carbon-balanced shipping. Books are great gifts that keep on giving! 

You never know what you’ll find at your local thrift or antique store, which makes holiday shopping even more fun. You may just stumble upon a unique item that triggers a cherished family memory, a thoughtful, impactful gift that your loved one – and the planet – will appreciate!

This year, consider, baking fresh bread from scratch or pulling together a meal gift basket.  Try your hand at making holiday candies, or even plant some starter kitchen herbs for a loved one this year. 

One Planet Life has several recipes that are perfect for gifting.  Consider fruit shrubs, a delicious vinegar-based syrup known as “drinking vinegars” that are a perfect gift for the cocktail or mocktail enthusiast.  Or learn how to whip up a delicious pepper jam to include in your gift baskets!

Canning is another option for edible presents. Homemade canned goods are easy to travel with and last a long time. There are so many ways to spruce up the presentation, utilizing fabric for the lids or even using foraged items, like pine cones, to tie around the jars. Jams, jellies, soups, and sauces are just a few of the many possibilities.  

Skip the Stuff, Support a Non-Profit

With inflation and a rocky economy on many people’s minds, a lot of families are scaling back on the number of items they buy this year. Avoid plastic knick-knacks that collect dust, the thousandth coffee mug that won’t fit in the coffee aficionado’s cupboard, or gifts that end up in a landfill or donation bin a month later.

Instead, skip the physical gifts and make a donation to your friend or family member’s favorite non-profit. For the person on your list that seems to have everything, this is a great opportunity to show that you’ve taken notice of causes they care about, and also make an impact for those less fortunate this holiday season.

OPL has curated a list of environmentally-focused non-profits to help you find the perfect organization that supports specific goals for a healthier planet.

Unsure which non-profit to support?  One Planet Life’s Philanthropic Gift Guide has ideas for everyone on your list.

Some of my favorite items to pick up each year include honey from our favorite local apiary, Buzz Worthy Apiary in Hagerstown, Md., homemade chocolates from the candy store in our community, and small-batch roasted coffee beans from my go-to coffee shop. 

Read more about another local favorite apiary, Bedillion Honey Bee Farm, located in Hickory, PA. 

Take some time to explore small shops in your hometown, and you’re sure to find some new favorites to share with others!

This time of year is known for generating tons of unnecessary waste. Shop smart this year by making sustainable choices that support eco-conscious and local offerings.  In doing so, you can make this holiday season less harmful to the environment.  Maybe you’ll even establish new holiday traditions in the process!