The staff at YES! shares their favorite sustainable gift ideas.
We'd love to hear your comments too. Please email us.
Fix It
• My family had an old Nintendo sitting broken for over a decade. I found an article on how to fix it. I sneakily stole it from them, fixed it up, and gave it back to them. I’m not sure if they still use it, but I know they enjoyed it for a while. I imagine you could do this for any broken item sitting in someone’s garage. An old bike, a television, a radio, etc. They get a “new” thing without wasting all of the resources that go along with making a new item. —Jon
Go Local, Way Over There
• What to get for my not-particularly-green in-laws across the continent? From an online list of farmers market participants for their small Connecticut town, I found a family farm producing free-range cattle, Four Mile River Farm. I called them up, and asked if they would put together a collection of frozen cuts of their beef as a present to be picked up. They were so happy to do it, and I think my inlaws made new friends. —Tracy
• Small concerts. The public radio station that serves the gift receiver’s town will have a calendar of the more interesting small concerts passsing through, and information for how to order tickets. You can inflict your own taste onto your friends.
• Membership to a local public radio station. Art museum memberships often come with free tickets and advance screenings for big events.
Just for Me
• My favorite gift still is a CD that a friend made for me. I like music, but don’t really know a lot about it, and he is a DJ. So I felt like a V.I.P. getting this personal music selection. And somehow he just hit it right and I have been listening to it for years now. —Lilja
• I have a friend who makes her own gifts, and my favorite is a flannel pillowcase with different colorful fabrics for the body and the border pieces. Not only are they beautiful and comfy, but I think of her every night when I go to bed! The perfect gift for someone you care about. —Sharon
Read more YES! Sustainable Gift ideas at our Web site, here.
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