Six Tips for Low Waste Gift Giving

Gift giving doesn’t have much of a place in my life these days. And when I am giving a gift, it must have a low impact, both on my time and the environment. 

We live in a day and age where we can purchase a staggering amount of ‘stuff’ online and have it shipped straight to our door. Many of us live a short drive away from department stores filled with cheap, mass produced items. Most of us already have too much stuff and with stuff so accessible, I no longer find gift giving in our culture generally a positive, or even thoughtful, thing. It’s something we’re unnecessarily hanging onto and it’s causing us wasted time and harm to the environment. 

Before continuing, I acknowledge that there are cultural, religious and financial elements to gift giving and your situation may be very different to mine. I write here from my own experience.

There are loads of ways we can do better with gift giving. Here are six.

1. “No Gift” Birthday Parties

This is a big one.

If you’re hosting a child’s birthday party (or even an adult’s), particularly with around eight or more guests, consider requesting “no gifts”. I know this may seem quite foreign to some, but when we think about how much stuff comes into our house, I find it staggering we’re still giving party gifts to kids, quite often completely blindly in that we don’t know what the child already has, and what they might want or need. We head to department stores and peruse the aisles hoping for the best and if we’re unsure, we tell ourselves that the receiver can do what they like with it once it’s in their hands (keep or perhaps regift or return)? Bear in mind it’s then up to the parent to deal with any gifts that are unwanted. 

I don’t know about you, but many families I know have precious little free time and I certainly resent the excess time I spend managing unwanted stuff. I cannot tell you how many hours I have sorted Lego, cleaned and advertised items to give away/sell and arranged pick up, or sent items to the Op Shop. I’d rather be going for a walk, reading a good book, spending time with my children; you know, enjoying my life. 

If you decide to ask for no gifts at your child’s party, ensure you explain why to your child, including the benefits to the environment, perhaps they already have plenty of belongings at home and perhaps they are already getting plenty of gifts from close relatives and friends. Explain that the party itself and time with friends is the gift. 

If this isn’t quite right for you, if appropriate, suggest that guests wishing to give a gift purchase a second hand item or voucher for an activity. 

I find it helpful to write on the invite something quite definite like  “No gifts please. Our house is full and <name> will receive plenty of gifts from their family.” I have found that mostly, people respect it. Those who still wanted to give a gift often gave something like a voucher, cash or book. 

If you ever receive an invitation requesting “no gifts”, respect it.

2. Do a Kris-Kringle at Christmas

If no gifts at Christmas is not an option (that’d be my preference!), try a Kris Kringle with those you celebrate with to reduce the amount of gifts. You could go a step further and give second hand or homemade gifts. With so many quality items available from platforms like Gumtree, Facebook marketplace and op-shops, second hand is a wonderful option.

3. Give a Low-impact Gift

Not low impact on the recipient, on the planet! Try to give something that you know is wanted or needed. Opt for quality and sustainable materials, or second hand. A voucher (especially given digitally) that you know they will use and appreciate is a great gift. It’s not appropriate in all situations, but cash is also a great low-impact gift. Or perhaps donate to a charity on their behalf. If you have children and you’re not going to spend the cash immediately, set up a bank account and bank it for them.

4. Talk to your family and friends openly about gifts

If you are receiving too many unwanted gifts from a friend or family member, try to talk to them respectfully and openly about it. You could touch on the difficulty and time required in managing all the ‘stuff’ in your home and how sustainability is important to you. It can be hard for some people to change gift giving habits (which makes me think it is all about them and how they feel about themselves, and not the receiver), but I’ve seen people change due to the wishes of the recipient.

5. Ditch the wrap!

I’m proud to say it’s been many years since I’ve purchased a gift bag or wrapping paper. I’m still enjoying the extra cupboard space! Instead of new wrapping paper or gift bags, reuse paper/gift bags you already have in your home (I’ve noticed you can find used ones at the op shop too). Another idea is wrapping the gift in kids’ artwork, cloth, or old pillow cases. We like to place gifts under a colourful cloth for our children to lift off.

6. Reconsider “Eco-friendly” and “Educational” gifts

Be careful of greenwashing in your attempts to purchase a ‘sustainable’ gift. Is it really environmentally friendly, or is it clever marketing simply making the product look ‘eco’ or ‘green’. Gifts like beeswax wraps or metal straws are only sustainable given if the person doesn’t already have them. Or if they are wanted. 

Don’t confuse ‘educational’ looking gifts as necessarily being a better option either. The stationery that comes home from schools is staggering, much of which winds up in landfill, and it can build up quickly in the home.

I hope the six ideas above have inspired you to change your gift giving habits. Here’s to spending more time with loved ones and less on running around purchasing or rehoming unwanted gifts.