The pursuit of perfection can make the holidays stressful, so we’re here to help check one thing off your list with our zero-waste gift guide. Making small changes during the holidays, like giving low-waste gifts, using less wrapping paper, and thinking twice before you throw out that slightly burnt pie, might feel minor but every action helps us get closer to a less wasteful world. We have ideas and inspiration for every budget, so whether you want to go full DIY or pick up some fancy finds, we’ve got a zero-waste idea for you.
Home, sweet-smelling home
DIY Easy Upcycled Coffee Candles
The perfect present for that person who loves coffee so much they can tell where the beans are from just by smelling it. These coffee candles make for a unique and comforting gift that also helps reduce the amount of spent coffee grounds sent to landfills.
Good tidyings from Blueland
Blueland is on a mission to eliminate single-use plastic packaging from everyday products, starting at home. Right now, their classic Clean Suite is 20% off and comes with a lineup of eco-friendly cleaning products, a free holiday tin, and holiday hand soap refills.
Easy Homemade Beeswax Wraps
Plastic wrap who? These easy (and dare we say stylish) beeswax wraps are a great way to help your friends and family cut down on the amount of single-use plastics they use.
Oona Sponge
Each sponge saves roughly 15 rolls of paper towels! These colorful sponges somehow make cleaning feel fun so grab a pack of special holiday edition sponges at Imperfect for your messy friend.
DIY Rosemary Orange All-Purpose Spray
You never again have to wonder, “what’s in this stuff?” or “is it ok that I’m spraying it all over my house?” Give the gift of peace of mind with this cleaning spray that smells like a holiday miracle and is made with ingredients you can see and probably already have.
Decorations
Cinnamon Stick Snowflake Ornaments
We all have that friend who has their home fully decked out at the first sign of wintry weather. You can help them decorate without the packaging waste this year with these zero-waste cinnamon stick ornaments.
Cardboard Gingerbread Cookie Ornaments
A great gift for cookie lovers or folks who prefer homemade gifts, these ornaments are a fun way to reuse your Imperfect box and double as an art project the whole family can put their creative flair into.
Rustic Dried Orange and Bayleaf Door Hanging
Give the gift of a great smelling house. This classic decorative door hanging is a fun and fragrant way to combine common ingredients like bay leaves and dried citrus into something unexpected and charming.
For the chef
Fancy fish from Fishwife
Gift your favorite foodie artisanal tinned fish from Fishwife. This woman-owned company sources only premium, sustainable seafood and works with microcanneries to make their gorgeous tins.
A bottle of Brightland
Brightland carefully sources their olives from a family-run California farm, then crafts them into custom-blended oils. Their matte-finished bottles are also so beautiful they can be turned into a decorative vase or container after all the oil is gone.
Hedley & Bennett aprons
Aprons are back, baby, so grab one of these for the person in your life who embraced their inner chef during the pandemic. H&B also makes finding the perfect fit easy with their apron quiz.
Wrap thoughtfully
One of the more obvious sources of waste around the holidays is wrapping paper, so start by thinking outside the box. Try wrapping a present in newspaper or the silver liners in your Imperfect delivery. Use reusable totes to cut out the waste entirely – and the totes themselves become a bonus gift! You can also focus on gifts that don’t need wrapping paper, like homemade baked goods or experiential gifts like classes or lessons, special meals, or festive beverages to share.
No matter how you celebrate, we hope this zero-waste gift guide gives inspires you to waste a little less this holiday. While there’s no perfect way to celebrate or give a gift, there are a million delightfully imperfect ways to make the holidays your own. Cheers to a less wasteful and more memorable holiday season!
