Not only at Christmas do we ask ourselves the question: What should we give a certain person? Often it's someone who feels like they already have everything or doesn't want anything. What can we still do to make this person happy?
From our point of view, gifts only make sense if they are actually needed. That is, if they have a practical use, because we all already have more than enough dust collectors and lovely bits and pieces at home. In the following, we have compiled some sustainable gift ideas.
Donate for a good cause
Budget: freely selectable
Does the person you want to give a gift to have a passion, a personal concern or is committed to a particular cause? There are associations for most topics to which you can make a donation, and the gesture makes a great gift. The advantage of this is clearly that it is a gift for every purse, because you can choose the amount you want to donate.
Are you still unsure about the topic? Here are some ideas:
- Animal welfare: WWF
- Environmental protection: Greenpeace, Fridays for Future
- Health: German AIDS Aid, German Cancer Aid
- LGBTQIA2S+: LSVD
- Knowledge: Wikipedia/Wikimedia
- Sport: the nearest local sports club
Compensation of annual CO2 emissions
Budget: from about 110 €
According to the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV), the average CO2 emissions per capita in Germany in 2021 were 10.8 tonnes of CO₂e (CO₂ equivalents: carbon dioxide, but also other greenhouse gases such as methane or nitrous oxide; since the latter are equally harmful to the environment, they are included in the calculation as CO₂ equivalents). This means that if you want to offset the footprint for the person receiving the gift, you should calculate with 11 tonnes (usually you cannot offset less than 1 tonne). We use and recommend The Gold Standard, a non-profit foundation (NGO) with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. First of all, you can choose the project you want to support and you will receive a certificate after the offset, which shows the offset amount (but not the amount paid).
Sponsorship for a meadow orchard
Budget: freely selectable
You want to do a good deed for the environment locally in Germany as a gift? That's a great idea! How about sponsoring a fruit meadow? This is a significant contribution to the renaturation of our homeland, because trees as well as wildflowers and bee pastures find a sheltered home in these meadows. This is also a contribution to the preservation and promotion of biodiversity. You can become a sponsor with our partner Klimawiese and receive a gift/sponsorship certificate if you wish.
Sustainable cosmetics
Budget: from 22 €
There are cosmetics that you don't necessarily need and there are those that everyone uses, such as soap. Drugstore products are often brimming with greenwashing and it's hard to believe that mass-produced industrial products are really entirely sustainable. As an alternative, we have created our handmade Nirvana soaps. You can give a single hand, face or body soap or a ritual set for the face or shower.
