While I wouldn't say I'm an environmentalist, I would say that I'm very eco-friendly and 9 times out of 10 opt for sustainable products that help the environment first. Especially since they are so many affordable and cheap eco friendly gift ideas out there today! Below you'll find the best holiday eco friendly gift guide for environmental activists, or for someone in your life looking to make green-er swaps. These products range from cheap Amazon gifts to luxury eco gifts for men, women, and kids! Let's give three cheers for holiday gifting that also helps the environment!
Table of Contents
The BEST Eco Friendly Gift Guide Ideas For The Budding Environmental Activist In Your Life
Eco Friendly Gift Sets
Eco Friendly Home Gifts
- Wool Dryer Balls
- Reusable Paper Towels
- Countertop Composter
- Reusable K Cups
- Reusable Straws (explained!!)
- Reusable Bowl Covers
- Composter
- Cleaning Supplies
Eco Friendly Beauty Gifts
Eco Friendly Fashion Gifts
- Recycled Organic Cotton Trendy Picks
- Recycled Midi-Dress + Athleta Picks
- Recycled Touch Screen Gloves
- Recycled Scarf
- Patagonia Picks For Men, Women, Kids
Eco Friendly Gifting For Kids
Eco Friendly Gift Sets
Zero Waste Kit Starter Kit: Meals/Kitchen
This eco friendly gift set comes with reusable utensils, sponge, chopsticks, straw, toothbrush, lunch box, and market bags making it the perfect gift set for someone who works in an office or eats lunch out of the home often. You can select the print of your sponge and carrying bags and the gift receiver will have everything they need to reduce their environmental impact when eating on the go!
Organic Spa Gift Set
This is such a luxury eco friendly gift set – without the luxury price tag! I'm honestly shocked at how affordable it is for the quality products! This is the perfect gift set for the person on your list who loves self care and pampering themselves! It's handmade, supports small businesses, and is zero waste! WIN WIN WIN!
Zero Waste Starter Kit: Beauty
This is a fabulous cheap eco friendly gift set in the beauty department. It comes with reusable makeup remover pads and laundry bag, as well as bamboo q-tips and a nourishing bentonite clay mask and jasmine soap. It's a little pampering and a little eco-friendly swap, and very affordable!
Branch Basics Starter Kit
Branch Basics makes plant and mineral-based household cleaners that are safe, natural, and effective. Their products are hypoallergenic, non-GMO, and fragrance-free. They focus on consumer health; even sending customers a list of ingredients to “toss” from their cabinet due to harmful links – while being eco friendly.
You have two options (both eco-friendly, but one slightly more so…)
Option 1: Starter Kit. This comes complete with the Branch Basics Concentrate and Oxygen Boost. These products are AMAZING. Non toxic cleaners that you can mix to create all purpose, glass, and bathroom cleaners; as well as hand soap and laundry detergent! YEP! Talk about HUGE cost and environmental impact savings! Downside to this option: the containers you mix the cleaners in are plastic.
Granted they are multi-use and will last for years but if you environmental activist is strictly against plastic, then option 2 will be the better choice, though slightly more expensive…
Option 2: Refill Concentrate, Oxygen Boost, and the Glass Bottle Kit. The cleaners work the same as in Option 1, you just don't get the plastic mixing bottles from the starter kit, and instead buy the glass bottles. The glass bottles are gorgeous and have passed the “drop proof” test.
Eco Friendly Home Gifts
Wool dryer balls
Ditch the dryer sheets and opt for wool dryer balls! Not only will they save you money, they reduce waste AND dry your clothes faster! I mean that's a win-win-win!
Reusable Paper Towels
Have you seen a pack of reusable paper towels are beautiful as this set?!? This shop has a ton of cute prints actually or you can shop on Amazon here.
Countertop Composter
Have you ever seen a composter so gorgeous? This a luxury gift and great for literally anyone, but especially apartment dwellers who want to compost but don't have a yard to setup a traditional composter.
Reusable K cups
If you love the environment, but also how quick and easy the Keurig is you'll love this reusable K-pod! It allows you to put ANY coffee of your choice into it and makes it compatible with Keurig's. You can usually buy coffee cheaper in whole bean form than in the K-pods so it'll save you money too!
Reusable straws
I've tried just about every reusable straw available (aluminum, glass, silicone, bamboo, paper, etc.). My top 2 favorites are aluminum straws and this specific set of silicone straws.
Aluminum straws: They actually make your drink colder! Seriously, what a life saver in South Florida! Less ice, more refreshing beverage? YES PLEASE! They do have one downside: clinking your teeth on them is annoying and may cause chipping (depending on how hard you clink).
You can shop aluminum straw options here. They come in fold up travel options that attach to your keychain and some have silicone grips to put at the tip if you're nervous about the metal being so close to your teeth (I usually keep the grip around the straw opening to alleviate the “click click” noise while driving, and then move it up to the mouth/drinking part when my baby wants a sip).
With my toddler though, I ultimately switched to this specific brand of silicone straws since she loves to drink from my cup and kept hitting her teeth on the aluminum. These straws are the first and only silicone straws I've found that actually are the right size opening of a standard straw and feel good to use.
Reusable Bowl Covers
These are brilliant! Especially if the person has kids – I swear we are always just putting my daughters half eaten food back in the fridge for later and with these reusable bowl covers, you just fit it on the plate/bowl like a shower cap. No saran wrap or foil waste! You just throw them in the wash once a week and are good to go!
Composter
Now if you environmentalist has a yard and is serious about their eco-footprint, a legit composter is an amazing gift! We got this one about 6 months ago and LOVE it. It's got two chambers, so one side can be “cooking” while you're adding to the other. It's easy to rotate and empty. We couldn't be happier with it!
Branch Basics Starter Kit
Branch Basics makes plant and mineral-based household cleaners that are safe, natural, and effective. Their products are hypoallergenic, non-GMO, and fragrance-free. They focus on consumer health; even sending customers a list of ingredients to “toss” from their cabinet due to harmful links – while being eco friendly. Their cleaners are POWERFUL without being harmful to our health or the planet!
You have two options (both eco-friendly, but one slightly more so…)
Option 1: Starter Kit. This comes complete with the Branch Basics Concentrate and Oxygen Boost. These products are AMAZING. Non toxic cleaners that you can mix to create all purpose, glass, and bathroom cleaners; as well as hand soap and laundry detergent! YEP! Talk about HUGE cost and environmental impact savings! Downside to this option: the containers you mix the cleaners in are plastic.
Granted they are multi-use and will last for years but if you environmental activist is strictly against plastic, then option 2 will be the better choice, though slightly more expensive…
Option 2: Refill Concentrate, Oxygen Boost, and the Glass Bottle Kit. The cleaners work the same as in Option 1, you just don't get the plastic mixing bottles from the starter kit, and instead buy the glass bottles. The glass bottles are gorgeous and have passed the “drop proof” test.
Eco Friendly Beauty Gifts
Makeup eraser
Say good-bye to make up remover face wipes, and hello to the reusable makeup eraser towel! This is seriously a miracle! Just add water and it'll get your make-up off for the day! It comes in a few different patterns and you can get free shipping here or shop on Ulta here!
Beeswax Lip Balm
This lip balm has won awards for their sustainable packaging and they use TerraCycle so consumers and recycle their empties!
Weleda Skin Food
Weleda is one of my favorite beauty brands and their Skin Food line is beloved by celebrities and make up experts. It's a super rich and cream formula that's great for rough patches or dry winter skin. Honestly, NOTHING repaired my chronic chapped lips like their lip butter. I also use their baby line on my daughter. They're a clean/green plant based beauty company that's been around for decades. And they're empty products can be recycled through the TerraCycle recycling program.
Eco Friendly Fashion Gifts
Everlane
Everlane is one of those brands that I tell everyone about! Their clothes for men and women are GORGEOUS – talking all the trendiest colors and cuts. Plus they are super soft organic cotton and one of (if not THE) most sustainably made clothing brands I've come across which you can read all about here. They also offer total transparency in their pricing, working conditions, and sourcing of materials. It's basically an environmental activists / humanitarians dream brand.
Recycled Midi Dress
Did you know Athleta uses sustainable materials to create stylish and supportive athleisure wear?? YEP! And this midi-dress is gorgeous! It's made from recycled polyester and spandex, making it lightweight and super soft – plus the cut is super flattering for all body types!
Recycled Touch Screen Gloves
These are a perfect eco friendly gift for Christmas! Made from recycled plastic bottles and textile waste, your environmentalist can keep their hands warm while still using their phone in wintery temperatures!
Recycled Scarf
The perfect soft and cozy scarf for this holiday season! It's a super soft woven fabric made with recycled polyester from plastic bottles and textile waste that are processed into plastic chips and melted into new fibers! The process saves water and energy and reduces greenhouse-gas emissions!
Shop ALL recycled products from ASOS here! They have sneakers, jeans, sweatpants, gloves, headbands, bras, underwear, swimsuits, dresses, tshirts and so much more for both men and women!
Patagonia Fleece
Definitely a luxury eco gift – but that's because it's not only Fair Trade Certified and made from sustainable materials, but it also comes with a lifetime warranty!
My favorite women's pick | My favorite kid's pick | My favorite men's pick
Eco Friendly Gifting For Kids:
For my complete Montessori Inspired 1 year old Gift Guide click here! I'd say about 90% of that gift guide is eco-conscious, but below are a few more items to consider!
Eco Stars Recycled Crayons
These adorable star shaped crayons are made from recycled crayons! Talk about using every last bit!
Want to go even more eco friendly with your gift? Get an ice cube mold like this one as a cheap eco friendly gift off Amazon, then make it an activity to melt down the child's existing crayons into recycled ones! You can find even more mold shapes from Star Wars to Battleship boats to pineapples here!
Eco Dough
Non-toxic play dough made with non-GMO ingredients and FDA approved soy-based organic pigments is the perfect eco friendly gift for kids! The parents will surely thank you for being so thoughtful!
Lovevery Play Kits + toys
Oh Loveveryyyy – a real winner here with their sustainably harvest FSC certified woods, soy and water based inks, organic cottons – and did I mention the have an AMAZING resale value? Seriously, some of the items in their play kits (which cost either $80 or $120 depending on the age you get) resell for $95! YEP, your read that right! ONE item out of the 8(ish) you get in the play kit resells for almost the full box price! Talk about eco-friendly and wallet friendly?!
I've done a FULL in-depth review of Lovevery Play Kits here and the Lovevery block set here. The play kits are for 0-3 years old and the block set is great for 2-6 year olds.
>>> Shop Lovevery Here! <<<
