Gift Giving Tips
- Rather than piling stuff up under the tree, make sure your material gift will get used. Think about what friends and family really want and need.
- Give a consumable gift. Local honey, cookies or a home cooked meal will always be appreciated and used.
- Share a service you can provide. Offer baby-sitting time, house cleaning help, or weeding a neighbor’s yard.
- Try giving gift certificates or simply make a donation in his or her name to a favorite charity. Adopt an endangered animal, plant a tree, or provide a family in need with a cow.
- Buy local, or think creatively and make your gifts.
- Shop for gifts at antique stores, estate sales, thrift stores or flea markets.
- Think about the amount of packaging involved with an item and if it can be recycled. Avoid using excess shipping materials.
Break the Gift-Wrap Habit
- Purchase gift wrapping materials that have recycled content.
- Package in reusable tote bags or baskets.
- Design your own gift wrap by using paper bags and adding decorations such as drawings, stamped patterns, or pictures cut from magazines.
- Let the kids do the designing. This is a great way to keep them busy during stormy days.
- Wrap gifts in the funny pages, old posters or maps.
- Reuse your bows and ribbons. Save gift boxes and bags to use again. Many gift boxes fold down and take very little room to store for future use.
