The trouble with buying someone a “eco-friendly gift” is that it can easily become a gift about your values rather than theirs. A bamboo scrubbing brush is a worthy object. It is not a present.
So this is a list of things people actually want, which happen to be made without plastic. Everything here is under £30, and everything comes from an independent maker rather than a warehouse. Prices were correct when we published this.
Under £10, for stockings and secret santa
The Furaha Recycled Brass Earrings are £3.78, which is a remarkable price for handmade brass, and they look considerably more expensive than they are.
The Dubai Chocolate Bar (£8.99) and the Dubai Chocolate Truffles (£9.44) are the pistachio-and-filo thing everyone has been talking about for the last year, in a palm-oil-free version.
For someone who takes a drink seriously, twelve bamboo straws in a hessian case at £9.02. And a single patterned coconut bowl and spoon is £9.78 — one of those gifts that gets used every morning for porridge and then photographed.
For the person who cooks
Two cheese boards at £14.47 each. The Beech Wood Cheese Board is the plain version, and the Personalised Engraved Board lets you put a name or a date on it, which turns £14 into something kept rather than used and forgotten. Order that one early — engraving takes longer than picking a parcel off a shelf.
Coconut bowls come as a set of two at £17.04 or in white lacquer at £10.78. Each one is a real coconut shell that would otherwise have been waste, which is the sort of detail worth mentioning when they open it.
For a table: Botanical Upcycled Teak Coasters from £16.99, made from offcuts from furniture factories, or the Rattan and Mother of Pearl Coaster Set at £18.04, which comes with its own holder. Rattan trays start at £24.06.
For someone who would frankly rather have chocolate
There is no shame in this. The Signature Truffle Selection is 468g for £18.88, and the Handmade Bonbonnière is the same price if you want something that looks like an occasion.
Chocolate-coated roasted coffee beans, brazil nuts and almonds are £14.16 each and all palm-oil free. Gold sugared almonds, £21.24, are the ones to put out in a bowl when people come round.
Something to wear
All of this is made from things that were something else first. The Elbow Stud Earrings (£16.99) and the Donut Necklace (£22.66) are cut from broken skateboard decks, so the coloured layers you can see are the laminate. The Violet Upcycled Flower Bracelet is £25.49 and hand cut.
And for a cyclist, cufflinks made from bicycle chain at £28.32 — which is a better joke than most cufflinks manage.
If you want their name on it
Two things here. The engraved cheese board above, and the Personalised Bamboo Dish Brush Gift Set at £22.21 — which is, admittedly, a brush, but a boxed and named one, and it goes down well with people who have just moved house.
Both are made to order, so give them a week more than you think you need.
For winding down
The āsmi Tea Set is £26.90 for three loose blends in paper packaging. The Relax Gift Set, £27.99, pairs a herbal tea with a sleep oil, and is the obvious answer for someone who has had a long year.
For him, if that is the brief
The Luxury Men's Beeswax Gift Set is £24.78 for five pieces — an aftershave or beard balm, a lip balm, a soap with honey, bay rum and lime, a rescue balm and a jar of honey with a twizzle stick. It arrives boxed, which saves you wrapping five things.
Two practical notes before you order
Buy from one maker where you can. Everything on this site ships directly from the person who made it, which is good for the maker and means fewer miles overall — but it also means a basket spanning three makers pays three delivery charges and arrives in three parcels on three different days. If you are buying several things, picking them from the same maker keeps the cost down and the doorstep tidy. Charges are always shown at checkout before you pay.
Order personalised items early. Anything engraved or named is made after you order it, not picked off a shelf.
The full range, including everything above £30, is in Christmas Gifts.
