BootsnAll's Travel Community

Holiday shopping got you stumped? Check out the Eco Travel Logue for great gift ideas for the traveler - that are eco-friendly! Just click on "Green Gear" along the top of the page.

What are your favorite eco-friendly travel gift ideas?

One of the coolest eco-friendly gifts I've received was a cute and colorful cloth bag and a gift certificate to Whole Foods - eco-friendly/socially responsible store (I think) and this gift saved plastic bags AND got me a 10c discount every time I went to Whole Paycheck. Whole Foods that is.

It was a good gift though. Still run to WF when I'm in the US and still have the bag.

That's great, Kate, think of all the plastic or paper bags you avoided using, every time you used your colorful cloth one. That's a great gift!

And I do think Whole Foods is for the most part an eco-friendly place. They've taken some heat for not doing enough to support small local farms, but a while ago they pledged to make some changes. We'll see if they come through!

Those prices though, ouch.

Mary

This year, I've given up on commercial wrapping paper. Everyone gets brown paper packages tied up in strings.

gorgeous!

.... and one of my favorite things!

(couldnt resist, sorry!)

Mary

Wrapping paper - that's a good one! I tend to be lazy when it comes to wrapping things, and just grab whatever's close at hand. That often ends up being the newspaper - the classifieds are great for most occasions, very consistent for the entire page, and tied with red ribbons it's quite lovely. For birthdays - especially kids' birthdays - the Sunday funnies are perfect.

I love the idea of wrapping things in brown paper packages. That makes for a nice touch.

A solar backpack. I've come to love mine despite how silly it looks.

I've got to admit that I'm a little bit excited about these recycled and further recyclable toothbrushes. Looking forward to ordering some for myself and then possibly as gifts for a couple of people if they're any good.

"I've got to admit that I'm a little bit excited about these recycled and further recyclable toothbrushes. Looking forward to ordering some for myself and then possibly as gifts for a couple of people if they're any good."

I'd like to try those toothbrushes too. They also do razors and they've just launched recycled plates/cutlery.

At the moment though I've got a toothbrush with replaceable heads, so you only throw out the head not the whole toothbrush when you need to change it. I'm not sure a toothbrush is a particularly exciting gift though!

For Xmas 2008.

Ten great ideas for "stuff-free" holiday gifts [grist.org]

Bar shampoo

no plastic bottle to dispose of

no paying to ship water

TSA-friendly

I like green travel stuff but I don't think i'd be too thrilled if I got a carbon offset for Christmas like that Grist article suggests, a bottle of organic vodka would be ok though!

For backpackers though perhaps an account at a crowdfunding site would be a good green Christmas pressie - friends and family could then contribute money for your next round the world trip

Kiva gift certificates.

Gift certificates available for $25 and up. Kiva arranges micro-loans to entrepreneurs in developing countries. The lendees then use the loans to help themselves get out of poverty. Whomever you give the certificate to gets to pick who they want to help sponsor.

I'm not a big Christmas fan, mostly because advertising starts in flippin' June, but over the past few years I've become a fan of Oxfam Unwrapped.

The amount of completely useless rubbish that people give as Christmas presents makes me cringe. I mean, how many incensce stick holders, candles or Simpsons beer mugs have you got? ... Exactly.

Anyway, one year I was unwell and couldn't go xmas shopping so looked into Oxfam Unwrapped and you know what? I've started a trend. Yes, even between the loaded London banker set.

You buy, say, 10 chickens for $20 and somewhere in the world, the family that needs the chickens gets them; your mate gets a polaroid of the chickens and a thank you card.

So far I've been given three goats, four sets of 10 chickens, two school tables, kits to start your own farm, water kits and loads more. And you know what? It means way more to me at Christmas than getting something else I really don't need.

Linda
www.ecotravellogue.com

ps. That doesn't mean I don't appreciate a really big bottle of bubbly... and a nice meal out... and maybe a Wii game... and a selection box...
but I do try!