With the holidays upon us, everyone is running around doing last minute shopping for their loved ones. Everyone should have loved ones who care about them around during these celebratory times, and this also includes the Earth. Considering all the amazing things it does for all living things, humans should really value its well-being. This holiday season should be filled with food, fun, and gifts while also keeping in mind the importance of protecting the Earth and choosing eco-friendly options. There are many alternative repurposed gifts that are kind to the Earth that can be given with love. 

There are so many different eco-friendly gift options. For example, any type of reusable bag can be great stocking stuffers. There are all different types and kinds of these reusable bags depending on the age it may be purchased for. There are mesh beach bags, or repurposed shopping bags, or small cloth produce bags. These can reduce the amount of plastic that pollutes our Earth by not using provided plastic bags at the grocery store. These reusable bags can be purchased from online shops to local stores and are fairly cheap as well. Reusable sandwich bags can be another easy and cheap gift but can be very helpful. They serve the same purpose as plastic sandwich bags and come in an assortment of sizes, and are a great eco-friendly alternative.

For loved ones who are fans of socks, there is a perfect gift waiting for them. Trees for the Future is a non-profit organization that sells socks and puts $1 (which funds the planting of 10 trees) from each sale towards planting new trees in sub-Saharan Africa, where deforestation is a major issue. 

Believe it or not, some jewelry can also help support our one and only Earth. Buying necklaces or bracelets with sea glass in them helps to clean out our oceans and beaches around the world, and in a beautiful way. 

Much like the VSCO girl era, plastic straws are still out and metal straws are still in: “save the turtles!” Although it may not seem like much, using a metal straw instead will help reduce the amount of plastic in our oceans. There are anywhere from 437 million to 8.3 billion plastic straws pollution our oceans right now. Every small action is important when it comes to saving the Earth. 

Lastly, along with gifts, food can bring happiness to many households. The mountains of food that will be cooked and eaten will come with leftovers that will be thrown out, so instead, consider composting. Composting bins can make a great gift for anyone. They make rich fertilizer for gardens in the spring when the warm weather comes back. This can dramatically reduce trash waste and contribute towards a cleaner environment.