Holiday gifts
In the past 15 years or so, since I stepped on the path of living a minimalist and more sustainable life, I've been giving gifts to my fellow humans that are in line, as much as possible, with my values.
My closest family members (stepfather, brother and grandmother) and I do not give gifts to each other anymore. We live in different countries, and receiving a text or a call from my loved ones is a wonderful gift in itself. My previous partner and I would always ask each other what we genuinely needed. We still have some of those items and use them very often.
My current partner and I don't give each other gifts for major holidays, but we do give gifts to one another if there is something that we find by chance (and feel that the other person might like it). For example, we have given each other stones that we found on Danish beaches. Whenever I visit Sweden, I try to bring back to Denmark some kardemummabullar that he loves. Gifts that we give to each other don't have to cost anything or be expensive.
With other family members we have an agreement that they donate some money to humanitarian and environmental causes instead of giving gifts to us. We feel that we have enough, even though we live with very few items.
Some of the most wonderful gifts I have received were fruits and vegetables from fellow humans' gardens, home-made bread and cakes, and small items that have lived in families for generations.
When it comes to giving gifts to other fellow humans, I prefer to give either zero-waste gifts or preferably locally produced food (or locally produced drinks). In every place where I've lived, there was a store (either a health food shop, a shop specialising in local products, or even a food market) where local food can be found.
This holiday season I will be giving honey, jams and teas. For my stepchild, my partner and I got some craft materials that she can use to make sculptures and flowers, on her own or with us. I also bought some tickets for all of us to visit The Palm House (part of the Botanical Garden here in Copenhagen). As for giving zero-waste gifts, I think some items are better than others. For example, I would not give bamboo utensils to a fellow human who doesn't travel much or a set with a bamboo toothbrush to someone who uses electric toothbrushes only. Over the years, I've noticed that the most popular zero-waste gifts that I have given (and that fellow humans genuinely loved and used) were bars of soap, food storage containers and reusable shopping bags. Those are the items I use myself every day.
For wrapping gifts, I've used paper bags that came with other items, pieces of fabric, cotton pouches (I asked my fellow humans to regift them, use them at home or give them back to me). I've also used jute twine and ribbons that found their way into my life. At times, I didn't wrap gifts at all, especially when they were gifts for adults.
Other lovely ideas that my fellow humans enact are regifting the items they do not need, giving hand-made items (such as knitted scarves, mittens and hats), giving second-hand items and experiences. I usually donate the gifts that I do not need straight away, but in the past few months I have decided to keep a small box with those items at home. I ask my fellow humans who visit me if they need any of those items. This way, those items find a new loving home very quickly.