While I don’t personally celebrate any holidays or buy presents for people, I have plenty of ideas for you. Hear me out! It will make sense, I promise.
I am not opposed to material gifts, and I will share many in this post, but what I value in myself and others is time. I value attention. I value being heard, hugged, smiled at and understood. And you value all of these things as well.
We are absolutely bombarded with ads for different services and products, all promising to bring us peace, happiness and, usually, beauty and youth. Like, seriously, so many products are focused on making us attractive and youthful. It is a bit creepy.
Just a tad.
We already have plenty of shit in our homes that are cluttering our closets, shelves, drawers, cars, and every other place we can leave trash in. If you go out, somewhere in a natural setting where you will connect with your deepest Self, you will realise that none of it matters.
What you actually care about is your health and the health of your family and friends. What you care about is that you can pay your bills and put food on the table. You care about being loved by someone and being able to love someone back.
That doesn’t mean you don’t love material things and presents that money can buy, but you don’t put them above your peace and freedom. If I am wrong, then this blog is not for you. But it might become.
My wish is that you experience this holiday season by giving away what people yearn for. What will people remember you for in 30 years? Because you bought them a face roller, or because you held their hand after they signed the divorce papers? We both know the answer because we both know what we remember people by.
Here are 20 sustainable, free and vegan holiday gift guide ideas for your loved ones:
- A fruit or vegetable basket from your own garden. We both know that no plant tastes better than the one you grow yourself.
- Bake a delicious plant-based meal or dessert that you know only you can prepare well. My goal is to learn how to make the best potica so I can be known for it in my family.
- Go old school and make them a mixtape. Pull a Janice (not Chandler!) and create a loving mixtape that can be listened to when needing a little love.
- Sing them a song or prepare a performance where you act or dance. I am still in the Friends world because I got this idea from Phoebe and Joey.
- If they don’t have a library card, borrow their favourite books for them! This is such a nice way to entertain others because you are basically gifting them five books at the same time, and they don’t have to keep them to gather dust after they finish.
- Rehome a potted plant and present it with a paper bow. You do know that you don’t have to buy flowers, right? If you have a garden, you can quite literally take something you grew and gift it to someone you adore. And the beautiful part is that the flower is still alive.
- Go for a group hike. One thing I always loved was how, during hikes, everyone talked to each other and shared words of encouragement.
- Go for a group walk. If you’re not in the best shape, you can go for a walk and observe nature and beautiful architecture. It’s not the length, it’s the quality; and it’s not “just a walk”, it’s time to connect.
- Offer to give someone a ride to visit their family members if they don’t have a car or money for public transport. There are so many lonely people in the world who won’t receive a hug because they won’t get visited. You can change that by helping someone with a ride to go see their loved ones.
- Babysit. A tired parent will value some time away from their child more than any present you could buy worth hundreds of Euros.
- Babysit (catsit, dogsit??) their companion animals. This one is better (for you) and less demanding, but still valuable to parents of companion animals.
- Help them with home chores. Okay, don’t lie, but wouldn’t you love it if someone said, “Hey, let me vacuum your place for you, and do the dishes and your laundry?” Of course, you would. Hell, from now on, I don’t ever want a present that is not you coming to my home and vacuuming.
- Offer your skills, for example, if you are a photographer, offer to take family holiday photos of them. Your talents and gifts can create memories that no physical gift ever could.
- Go sightseeing around your local town or city. I bet that you haven’t seen everything yet, and going for a little “travel adventure” with someone can be a beautiful experience to share.
- Give them books that you found in your local little free libraries. I love those, and while there are usually old books no one reads, there are people like me who leave awesome new books for others to grab. I literally gave away over 200€ worth of new releases when I had my mental breaks and decided I was over them.
- Does your favourite meditation app have free trials you can gift to your loved ones? I haven’t been using the Waking Up app in some time, but I remember I used to be able to give away a free month to anyone who asked. (I’m not saying you have to, but if you do have a free trial to Waking Up to gift, I’m here.)
- Fix or repair something that’s not working. If you are handy and love a challenge, bring a refrigerator or a washing machine back from the dead.
- Visit your elderly at the retirement home and play board games with them, take them for a walk, or read to them. Old people are the loneliest generation, and we must take care of them so they leave this place with dignity and peace.
- Play board games with just anyone. A 3-hour game with your loved ones, sitting around the table, maybe sharing a baked good and drinking tea… what brings more laughs than this?
- Draw something for the kids. I’m always reminded of that video of a little boy getting a banana as a present for Christmas, and he is so joyful, walking around and showing everyone the fruit he received! He just got a banana, and he was so excited, like most kids are about Barbies or Power Rangers. Just draw something for the kids and personalise it so it touches their little hearts.
You don’t even have to spend any money on most of these, and the rest is just gas and maybe ingredients. But I can promise you that these will do more to deepen your relationships than spending money on clothes, skincare or toys.
Sure, if someone is struggling and doesn’t have a jacket in the middle of winter, gift them a jacket with a pair of gloves and a scarf. But how many of your friends, if any, can’t afford gloves and a pair of warm socks?
On the other hand, how many of your loved ones are tired from work, exhausted from cooking and cleaning, and just wish for some goddamn time to read or nap? Skincare won’t bring them peace and health; time away from kids or housework will.
Choose your gift this month carefully and think of how you can serve your family and friends better while protecting our planet and all her children.
If you enjoyed this post, I would love to see you on my Substack page, where I write even more about veganism, animal rights and environmentalism. If you’re already subscribed, let me know down in the common section how you like it?
Tanja
