Being environmentally friendly is more important now than ever before. Global warming is a serious issue, but we can preserve the health of our planet by taking steps to reduce our carbon footprint.
You’ve already taken steps to lessen your impact on the environment, and now you want to encourage your friends, family members, co-workers, or anyone else you know to take the same strides. How can you do that? – By giving them eco-friendly gifts!
Not only are eco-friendly gifts a great way to get others to “go green”, but they’re also unique. Here’s a look at some environmentally friendly gift ideas that the planet – and the recipient – will be sure to love!
A Low-Flow Shower Faucet
Image sent by author
There’s nothing better than taking a shower. Not only does it get you squeaky clean, but it’s completely refreshing and totally rejuvenating. However, while showers are certainly beneficial for anyone who takes them, they aren’t exactly good for the environment. Why? – Because they waste a tremendous amount of water! In fact, a shower can use as much as 5 gallons of water per minute. That means a 10 minute shower uses 50 gallons of water!
To reduce the amount of water wasted during a shower, give the gift of a low-flow shower head.
They’re easy to install and can reduce the flow rate to less 2.5 gallons per minute or less! That’s some serious water savings, which isn’t only great for the environment, but it can help lower energy bills, too!
Drying Racks
Clothes dryers use an incredible amount of energy. They can also shrink and damage clothing.
Encourage someone you know to nix their clothes dryer and instead line-dry their clothing with a drying rack. There are tons of options to choose from that range in size and are made of various materials (bamboo, metal, plastic, etc). You can find a decent drying rack for about $10 and they’re available at virtually any home goods supply store.
Recycled Gifts
With a little creativity, what someone might consider trash can be transformed into a beautiful, unique, and useful gift.
If you’re handy with a sewing machine, you can turn old clothing into a one-of-a-kind reusable shopping bag. If you have the patience and some imagination, you can use wine corks to create a useful display board that can be used to hold important memos or showcase photos.
If you aren’t the creative type, a simple search for “recycled gifts” on the Internet will yield dozens of options to choose from.
Reusable Containers
Food storage bags are handy, but they create tons of plastic waste that pollutes our waterways and fills up landfills.
Encourage the people that you know to stop using those plastic food storage bags by giving them the gift of reusable food storage containers. They come in various sizes, shapes, colors, and patterns and can be purchased pretty much anywhere – including the dollar store!
When it comes to gift giving, presents that promote an eco-friendly lifestyle will surely be appreciated by whoever receives them – and the planet will be appreciative, too!
By Gwen Lewis
