Be kind to your mother AND Mother Earth: 6 eco-friendly gift ideas for Mother’s Day
Mother’s day is a billion dollar industry, with the majority spent on flowers, jewelry, chocolates, and cosmetics. But wouldn’t it be great for Mother Earth if those gifts were also eco friendly and low impact? There are many circular brands that use waste materials to create high-quality products, implementing circular economy concepts in their designs and manufacturing process. Others focus on limiting their environmental footprint by reducing the amount of waste, toxic ingredients, and practicing ethical labour laws.
Here’s a list of sustainable, eco friendly gift ideas for Mother’s Day in 2021.
Eco-friendly makeup
We rarely think much about our cosmetics, but a lot of them are not actually good for the environment. Whether it’s microplastics in the ingredients, non-recyclable plastic packaging, animal testing, or toxic chemicals, some cosmetic brands are eco-harmful. But there are some eco-friendly cosmetics that would make awesome Mother’s Day gifts. In Europe, a few examples of those brands are Gosh, goasur, Be Kind Beauty, madebymeperfumes, and Buff.
Live plants instead of flowers
Flowers are a traditional gift for Mother’s Day, but as beautiful as they are, they only last a few days. They also cost a lot and have significant negative consequences on the planet. So instead of flowers, why not give plants? Indoor plants brighten up the room, help to clean up the air, and can even boost our moods.
Eco skincare and body care products
Skincare and body care products tend to utilise a lot of polluting materials and packaging such as plastic. However, you can find shampoo bars, organic soap, metal razors, reusable wipes, solid deodorants, dental tablets, and bamboo toothbrushes at a few shops. Some of those brands include Solidu, Shaeco, Lamazuna, Oway, and Geoganics.
Ethical chocolate
Another traditional gift: chocolate. Unfortunately, the chocolate industry has often been synonymous with child labour, slave labour, and unethical business practices. Instead of buying chocolate from Nestle, look for information about the company first. Ethical chocolate companies should be transparent and have a label that says Fair Trade Certified cocoa. The chocolate companies should source the cocoa ethically, provide fair labour wages to the workers, and limit their waste impact. A few ethical chocolate companies include Locoletter, Tony’s Chocolonely, and Divine.
Zero-waste jewelry
The jewelry mining industry has huge consequences on the planet: land erosion; leaking of chemicals; and a large carbon footprint. The mining for one gold ring alone can create 20 tons of mine waste. However, there are sustainable jewelry brands that are conflict-free, responsibly sourced, fair trade, and ethical. Some include: Leni Adam, Maren, JEM, Tuohi, Gina Melosi, Kinraden, norrfolks, Folkdays, and Douze. A circular watch made from recycled plastic could also make an excellent gift.
Sustainable home items
Perhaps this type of gift is not as common, but some people prefer more practical everyday-use presents. Sustainable and eco-friendly gift ideas for the kitchen can include glass food containers, beeswax wrap, silicon baking sheets, reusable paper towels, natural cleaning products; eco sponges for washing dishes; or a sleek worktop compost bin. You can create a beautiful basket containing a variety of those items mentioned. Interior decor like circular wallpapers, or even notebooks made out of waste could also be well received.
FINAL WORD
Don’t forget about the wrapping! Instead of buying wrapping paper, you can use newspapers, a beautiful scarf or piece of cloth, or parchment paper. This will make your Mother’s Day gift even more unique.
Our guide to eco-friendly gifts on Mother’s Day offers an opportunity to be kind to our mothers AND Mother Earth, and that’s perhaps the best gift of all.
