Buying gifts for your friends and family can be incredibly challenging, especially if you have many people to please. Toss in those who are environmentally conscious, and your shopping excursions could quickly sour. 

For the environmentally friendly loved one in your life, you want to find sustainable gifts that don’t require significant energy to produce and result in little to no waste.

Luckily, your environmentally conscious friends aren’t lone consumers. This market has exploded worldwide in recent years, offering endless choices for eco-friendly gifts that won’t leave a major carbon footprint on the gift receiver’s hands. There is now an abundance of products being constructed using sustainable materials and smart technology to reduce waste while making production more efficient. Many of these products also feature a reusable system that eliminates individual-use items.

If you’re interested in finding sustainable gift ideas to wow your environmentally-conscious friends on any occasion, keep reading to learn more!

What does it mean for a product to be sustainable?

The simplest sustainability definition is the ability to be maintained at a specific level or rate. For a product to be sustainable, it must be consumed and produced in a manner that doesn’t cause destruction or harm through energy usage or waste, both of which hurt the environment.

A product can be considered sustainable if it meets the following criteria:

• It doesn’t directly harm the environment through energy usage or waste.
• The product doesn’t deplete nonrenewable, natural resources.
• The product wasn’t created socially irresponsible, like with health and safety concerns or through child labor.

What materials are not sustainable?

Countless materials exist that are not considered sustainable, either due to their energy usage, processing, or waste.

In the past, recycled materials have only been good enough for mass market use of items like water bottles that don’t require complex design or materiality—or make beautiful fashion statements. 

Many of these fall in the plastics category. They include:

Acrylic

Acrylic can be found in a variety of products ranging from cosmetics packaging to apparel. The processing of acrylic requires highly toxic chemicals dangerous to factory workers by entering the body through the skin or inhalation. It takes up to 200 years for the acrylic to biodegrade in a landfill. Additionally, the processing creates highly chemical wastewater that can contaminate the local water stream.

Conventional cotton

Cotton is the most common material used in apparel, bags, and other wearable items. While cotton is a natural substrate, the number of pesticides and insecticides used to protect crops is significant. Not only does it become intertwined in the fibers, it also pollutes local groundwater.

Cotton production consumes 1,931 liters of irrigation water to produce enough for one T-shirt and one pair of jeans. These fibers cause further pollution through dyes and treatment chemicals.

Nylon

Nylon is commonly used in clothing items and packaging materials but is derived from crude oil. No nylon grade is biodegradable and each can sit in a landfill for up to 200 years. In addition to the material being derived from petroleum, one of the dirtiest energy forms and industries, nylon production also creates nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas that utilizes tremendous amounts of energy and water.

Polyester

Numerous everyday products—from bottles and rope to T-shirts and blankets—are made of polyester and related blends. Like several others on this list, polyester can take up to 200 years to biodegrade in a landfill because it’s partially derived from oil, a massive pollution source. Also, considerable amounts of water are used for cooling this high-energy production process, which is dangerous in water-depleted areas.

Rayon

Rayon is created by dissolving cellulose using a dirty chemical solution, which is then spun into threads. Cellulose is naturally derived from plants and is marketed as a plant-friendly material. While the fiber is non-toxic and biodegradable, the processing can harm the environment and factory workers. Additionally, rayon uses copious amounts of energy and water and releases dangerous chemicals into the surrounding environment.

Sustainable gifts for her

Whether you’re shopping for your grandmother, mom, sister, wife, girlfriend, or best friend, finding sustainable gifts for her can be a challenge. Luckily, the number of available options expands with each passing year. Some of the top sustainable gifts for her include:

Sustainable flats

From mules to ballerinas, flats have fought their way back into the zeitgeist, but this time with a modern twist: sustainable materials. Sustainable flats gain their sustainability rating by using materials that don’t exploit animals and are recycled from other products.

For instance, some flats are constructed from cork and recycled PET from plastic bottles. Another focus adds to the sustainability claim: Offering fair wages to workers in foreign countries where the daily pay is well below the international poverty line.

Rothy’s has a variety of flats to give as presents for the eco-friendly women in your life, including The Point, The Flat and The Loafer.

Sustainable handbags

Sustainable materials don’t stop at footwear; sustainable handbags are also growing in popularity since they share many of the same woven fibers as apparel. Many handbag options use solvent-free materials to eliminate the chemicals that end up in groundwater.

Others used innovative natural materials like cactus leather while offering fair trade wages to lower-income communities. Additionally, as material advances have improved, many of the same apparel, footwear, and handbag companies have moved into travel bags (like Rothy’s Weekender), which need to be more durable to withstand the harshest travel conditions—yet another example of great sustainable presents. 

Sustainable gifts for him

Sustainable gift ideas are not just applicable to women; men are also forward-thinking in limiting their environmental impact while still boasting their sense of style. Material advances can be found in men’s shoes, sneakers, and wallets.

Sustainable loafers

Men’s loafers have come a long way in the sustainability department and are one of the best eco gifts you can get for the beau in your life. Many of the eco-friendly loafer models in the market are constructed from ethically sourced leathers, recycled plastics, and recycled foam and cork insoles for comfortability. Some companies, like Rothy’s, take this a step further by utilizing recycled plastic bottles.

Sustainable sneakers

Environmentally friendly men’s sneakers are another of many unique eco-friendly present ideas. Sneakers need to provide excellent support, breathability, durability, and comfort, which have been challenging characteristics to achieve with previous sustainable materials. Now, the industry is able to fulfill these traits by using materials like ethically farmed merino wool, eucalyptus fibers, bamboo fibers, waterproof hemp, and other recycled shoes.

Rothy’s has a range of sustainable sneakers to choose from for the eco-conscious guy in your life, including The RS01 Sneaker, The Monty and The RS02.

Show your loved ones you care about them—and the planet

In the past, sustainable products were barely on anyone’s mind. However, as more companies adopted corporate sustainability, and ethical and social responsibility initiatives, there is now an entire market of sustainable and responsibly-source apparel, footwear, and accessories, for those with an eye for the environment. These sustainable gift ideas will go a long way; you are giving them a functional and durable product based on a social initiative they care about.

While there are many excellent sustainable product companies on the market that utilize environmentally friendly materials while offering workers in low-income counties competitive wages, Rothy’s is a top choice for these products.

The footwear, bags, and accessories offered by Rothy’s meet the three points of sustainability: they cause no harm to the environment through energy usage or waste, they don’t deplete nonrenewable natural resources, and the products aren’t created in a socially irresponsible manner.

Rothy’s has even taken this a step further with a corporate initiative of achieving a closed-loop production model by 2023. Check out everything that Rothy’s has to offer for the sustainable people in your life.