As the end of another year approaches, toy factories and shopping malls are working overtime to prepare for the onslaught of anxious shoppers. With 28% of gifts returned after the big day and 25% more waste thrown into landfills between Thanksgiving and New Year, it’s a good time to be thinking about ways to be eco-friendly over the holiday season for a happier (and healthier!) planet. At Faerie’s Dance, we’re here to help redefine how people think about eco-friendly shopping. Here are our top 5 ideas to consider for making your holidays more eco-friendly!

1. Ditch the Tinsel and Disposable Knives and Forks

Tradition and convenience are attractive go-to’s when the family is coming over and there’s way too much to do. Fortunately, there are several ways to be eco-friendly and prevent the huge amounts of plastic that are purchased and disposed of around holiday time each year.

Instead of plastic tinsel and baubles, consider opting for the more nature-friendly pine cones and rose hips, decorating your home with pieces of brightly colored organic cotton and homemade bunting. For ways to be eco-friendly with your holiday meal, think about switching your single-use plastic cutlery for compostable bamboo disposables or preferably make a fun activity out of washing dishes by turning up the holiday music and laying out the leftovers for helpers to help pack up. With the treats off the table and the party in the kitchen, you’ll soon have a team of eager volunteers!

2. Purchase Gifts that Give Twice

With so many birthdays and holidays in a lifetime, finding the perfect gift for each person can be a challenge. Make your presents meaningful as well as sustainable by shopping local and giving preference to eco-friendly gifts for the holidays.

Organic cotton children’s toys are free from flame-retardants and other chemicals making them a safer, softer option for bringing a smile to the kids’ faces. Organic women’s clothing or sustainable men’s styles are other ideas for ways to be eco-friendly when buying gifts for the whole family. The styles available in organic and sustainable fabrics means you won’t have to sacrifice on fashionability, and your purchase will help small family businesses make a decent living in countries around the world.

3. Wrap Your Gifts Without Killing Trees

According to a study from Sundale Research, Americans spend a whopping $7 billion on wrapping paper every year. Keep gifts a surprise without damaging our forests by looking for alternatives to brand-new “virgin” wrapping paper. As an item that is used once (or at most twice) and then thrown away, this holiday tradition can easily be replaced with gorgeous tree-free gift bags that can be folded back up and used again. The red cloth stocking hanging from the mantelpiece is a similar idea and brings back the nostalgia of centuries past.

If you must wrap with paper, there are ways to be eco-friendly while still giving the kids the fun of ripping each package apart. Create a rustic feel by wrapping gifts with newspaper and securing it with twine or colored cloth rather than plastic-coated sticky tape. When you’re done unwrapping, compost your newspaper wrapping paper to return the goodness to the earth. For those who like a sea of color in their living room, swap the newspaper for some colorful pages from used magazines. While this option isn’t as great for your compost pile, it can still be recycled for more eco-friendly holidays!

4. Gift Experiences Rather than Toys

Creative gifts can be a way to be eco-friendly and counter the excess of consumption that pollutes our homes and our hearts. Whet the appetite of curious kids with a science clinic or cake-making workshop and give the older ones the thrill of a lifetime with a voucher for a tandem skydive or white-water rafting. Is there a couple on your list who could do with a romantic getaway? For ways to be eco-friendly at the same time as showing some sacrificial generosity, consider gifting a hotel, restaurant, or movie voucher and offering to watch the kids!

5. Give Them a Choice

Having someone guess the exact gift we want is a rare pleasure that is usually preceded by 12 months of hint-dropping. Avoid the problem of gift-return and reduce waste by giving your loved ones a gift card printed on recycled paper or charity-based “gift” that plants trees or “adopts” an endangered animal.

Looking for ways to be eco-friendly with a sustainable holiday budget that won’t put you in the red? Time vouchers are a creative idea for eco-friendly holidays that only cost you an hour (or two or three) and leave the details up to the recipient. You could make these vouchers fun and attractive by including a few suggestions and decorating the page by hand. A time-voucher for your teenage son could offer activities such as:

• An afternoon of go-karting
• Putting together an engine for his future car
• Going on a camping trip together to the local state park
• Helping him practice his basketball shots
• Spending time together during something he enjoys

While this gift could seem like more effort than checking out an iPhone and calling it good, it will create unforgettable memories that last for a lifetime.

6. Change Your Mindset to Transform the World

Although looking for ways to be eco-friendly with our celebrations can make an enormous difference, changing the way we think has benefits that extend far beyond the holidays. Take a moment to step away from the hustle, bustle, lights, and music, and ask yourself these important questions:

• What am I trying to achieve with this year’s festivities?
• Which gifts have I received from others that really changed and enriched my life?
• What will I do this holiday season to build relationships with the people in my life?
• What can I let go of this holiday season?

When you step back and look at the big picture, you might realize that the most important thing is spending time with family, making memories, taking time to rest, and filling your home with joy. Ready to make your holiday more eco-friendly? Explore the best eco-friendly gifts in our collection.

Happy Holidays from Faerie’s Dance! We wish you a healthy, prosperous and, most of all, joyous New Year!

Yeah, yeah, we’ve all heard of wrapping your gifts with newspaper.  But who wants all that ink on your fingers while you unwrap, and really, who still gets newspapers anyway?  Save the newspapers to make paper bows.  Eco-gift wrapping can be much more fun and creative than that.

1. Have some old road maps in the car?  Use those to wrap gifts for the traveler in the family.
2. Wrap smaller gifts with magazine pages.  They’re glossy, full-color and you can be creative about what images you show.
3. Is your fridge overrun with toddler art? Wrap grandparents gifts in art projects from the kid’s school. The wrapping itself will give them a little extra joy.
4. Wrap gifts with gifts.  Are you giving someone tea towels or pillow cases? Use towels to wrap up other gifts, so both the wrapping and the wrapped item are gifts to themselves.
5. Giving someone a t-shirt with a print?  Wrap another gift with the t-shirt print showing outward.  Again, you’ve got a double-gift.
6. Buying online a lot this season?  Take the paper filler from online purchases and use rolling stamps or large background stamps to make your own festive wrapping paper.
7. Instead of buying gift bags, pick up festive reusable shopping bags at the grocery or department store. Most stores have bright colored ones, and they can be used year-round saving plastic bags every time your recipient goes shopping.
8. Make your own gift basket by cutting up old magazines or even the colorful grocery fliers that come in the mail and using them as liner in the bottom of a basket, watering can, flower pot or large coffee mug.  Put your gifts on top and add a festive bow. Just remember to skip the cellophane.
9. If all else fails, buy recycled and recyclable wrapping paper.

With just a little creativity the holidays can be beautifully wrapped up without all the paper waste.