Top 10 Sustainable Gifts We’re Giving This Holiday
The holidays can be the most wonderful (and wasteful) time of the year. Americans throw away 25% more trash during the Thanksgiving to New Year’s holiday period than any other time of year. The extra waste amounts to 25 million tons of garbage, or about 1 million extra tons per week! (Stanford University)
At Vertical Harvest Farms we recognize that the holidays can be a time of spreading love and joy, and they can also result in overconsumption. This year, we asked our team to tell us their favorite ways to embrace sustainability during the holidays. Whether it was a local business they like to support, or a tradition of gathering with friends for a recycled yankee swap… we got a lot of good answers. Read our top 10 sustainable gifts & local brands in Jackson Hole we love.
- Shop local (this is the #1 way to decrease your footprint this year while simultaneously stimulating your local economy and supporting small artisans. While we can’t recommend where to purchase in your hometown, we have a few favorites in ours, keep reading to check out the best Jackson Hole presents to give this year!)
- Participate in Circular Fashion… Consider BIPOC (Black and Indigenous People of Color)-owned start-ups like the Farewell Exchange.
- Try a new sustainable brand: Bees Wrap Products, Package Free Shop, Raw Spice Bar, Etsy, Able, Patagonia, Little Scout Creative.
- Make a donation in honor of someone else, find the local organizations around you!
- Book Nook at the library and mini libraries around town – cheaper used books vs. buying new.
- Treat yourself to a fancy compost bucket and commit to composting in 2022.
- Share a recipe with a loved one – a timeless tradition.
- The gift that never stops giving – purchase a local CSA for your friends and family.
- Give a planter seeded with cold weather crops like kale, beets and/or carrots – it is a gift that gives through multiple seasons.
- Consider gifting “experiences” vs “stuff” – like cooking or art classes, memberships to museums and/or gift certificates to your favorite restaurants.
Jackson Hole Brands We Love
- Persephone Bakery
- Chelsea Pottery
- Rachel Pohl
- Healthy Being Juicery
- Wilson Book Gallery
- Coombs Outdoors (donate)
- One22JH (donate food)
- Switch Fleece
- Give’r
- JH Greenthumb (Audra Manzer) – Hand painted Potted Plants
- Women Folk
- And so many more restaurants & Shops
Tips to enjoy a Sustainable Christmas!
- Recycled Gift Exchange – clothing swap, book swap, and old jewelry finding a new home!
- Try wrapping your presents in a reusable fabric.
- Hand-written cards never go out of style, and they reduce your waste in printing & packaging.
- Choosing “local pickup options” will help decrease your packaging waste.
Download this Holiday Gift Guide as a PDF
While this list is just a starting point, there are so many incredible resources to make 2021 a year of giving back (socially aware gifts?) check out this Holiday Gift Guide from Anti Racism Daily
