It’s that time of the year again where we are all scratching our heads to try and think of that perfect gift for our loved ones. Here are some of our favourite eco-friendly, local and conscious gift ideas for this year.

Forget-me-not SUPA pouches

These brightly coloured pouches each contain 3 super strong collapsible shoppers (parachute fabric) made by Greyton transition town ladies, plus two SUPA fresh produce bags made by my Masi group.The pouches are now being made by the gorgeous and talented seamstress Dorcas .

Cost: R180. Email your orders to karabos@mweb.co.za or find out more here.

Growing Paper Calendar for 2018

Everyone could use a calendar for the New Year to help implement their New Year resolutions J These beautiful calendars are made from paper embedded with seeds that will grow into flowers or herbs once you have planted your used page. So once each month is over, you can plant the sheet of paper and enjoy flowers or herbs all year round (you can choose to order either flowers or herbs). There is no waste and it’s an excuse to enjoy some gardening!

Cost R133.40 each.

Growing paper also sell a great range of gift cards, which can also be planted once used 🙂

Reel Gardening Combo

For those friends and family with green fingers, Reel Gardening encases natural high quality seed inside a biodegradable nutrient rich paper tape, making the growing process fast, easy and effective. Place vertically in soil with the coloured portion visible above the soil. Water daily and plants will emerge correctly spaced and protected from pests.

They are currently offering 50% off on their combo which contains: Summer Vegetable Garden, Mixed Salad Garden, Soup Garden, Winter Vegetable Garden, Herb Window Garden and Vegetable Windowsill Garden.

Cost: R199.00

The Tree App

If you know someone who likes to spend time in nature, then this is the gift for them. TheTreeApp is a great tool for smart phones and tablets to identify indigenous and invasive, alien South African trees. 1100 tree species are detailed on the app through photographs, and diagrams of their leaves, flowers and seeds as well as distribution maps. You can also reduce the possibilities according to your location.

Much easier to take out and about with you either on a phone or tablet.

Cost: R499.00

Soft pots by Novella Design 

Dress up your pot plant or store your odds & ends with a locally printed soft pot made from cotton fabric. If you’d like to spend a bit more you can include an indoor plant with your gift.

Cost R140.00

Toiletry bags & storage cubes from Veldt

The Toiletry Bags are made with a Veldt Hand Silkscreen print on Natural Organic Cotton & Hemp blend with a waterproof lining (45% Organic Cotton / 55% Hemp).

Cost: Range R285 – R520

The storage cubes are perfect for organising storage in your home collapsible and  functional, with a waterproof lining.  A beautiful storage solution!

Cost: R465 for a set of 2

Veldt also sell a variety of other beautiful products including tea towels, tote bags, cushion covers and make-up bags.

Or if you’re giving someone jewellery for Christmas, why not rather wrap it in one of these pretty little coin purses from veldt instead of using wrapping paper or gift bags.

Cape Parrot Bags

These beautiful shopping bags can be bought from Woolworths stores nation wide. R10 from each bag purchased goes towards BirdLife South Africa’s work to protect important Cape Parrot Habitat. For more information follow this link.

Not only do these make beautiful shopping bags, beach bags or carry bags, they can also be used as an alternative to wrapping.

Cost: R35

Bundubeard Razors

Finding the right gift for dad is always tricky, so have a look at the range of razor options local business Bundubeard/Bundubaard have to offer. Plastic free, good quality products as well as eco-friendly soaps and shaving products and they swear it will save you money in the long run.

Cost: From R100 upwards

eCoffee Cups

Yes, we know we’ve done these before but we just love them as gifts – the eCoffee Cup. They are made from recyclable bamboo, in a fight against the 100 billion disposable cups that end up in our landfills annually! Choose from various sizes and funky patterns to make the perfect eco-friendly gift for any coffee lover. Find out more at www.ecoffeecup.co.za or order from Faithful to Nature.

Cost: Cups range from R179-R209.

For the Kids

Rare Bears

Rare Bears are beautiful little crocheted animals made by Kya Kids, a community project run by the Bryanston Bible Church. This project not only employs people, but also raises funds towards Rare Diseases South Africa. You can also choose to buy and donate a bear to a paediatric patient. They make a great gift for a little one for Christmas, birthday or baby shower and you’ll be supporting a great cause.

Cost: R150 for personal purchase/ R120 if donated to a sick child

Go to rare diseases SA for more.

Solar Green Dinosaurs Transformer Solar Robot Kit

This dinosaur solar transformer robot kit is a great green gift for an older child that likes to build things. It can be easily transform between one of four different modes and is completely solar-powered, so doesn’t need batteries.

Cost: R210

Owl Pellet Junior Scientist Kit

If you are looking for a novel gift for kids between the ages of 6 – 13 then try out one of these owl pellet dissection kits. Each kit comes with a coordinate of where the pellet was found and provides all the gear you need to safely dissect 2 owl pellets, to see what interesting bones you can find.

Once the child has finished dissecting their pellets, he/she needs to email/WhatsApp a picture of his dissection contents along with his coordinates label to EcoSuolutions. When school resumes they will draw the name of one the young participants. The lucky winner’s prize? An “Owl Release” at their school. EcoSolutions will build the pen, provide the owlets and supervise the release. Obviously, the winner will get to name the owlets. HOW COOL!?

Cost: R130 per kit.

 That’s it for this year, we hope we have given you some ideas for your Christmas stockings. We wish you all a wonderful festive season and hope to be back with more green inspiration in 2018.