Our Gift Ideas for a Rocking Stocking
If like us this is your current state of mind: ‘AHHH I STILL HAVE SOME MUCH CHRISTMAS SHOPPING LEFT TO DO’, we’ve got your back.
What if you could find gifts for your friends and families that they loved and that would also positively impact on other people all around the world? Look no further, here’s our gift list for a rocking stocking with an ethical twist (because Christmas is all about giving, after all):
For £5 you can plant a tree through the World Land Trust and receive a personalised certificate of congratulations! It may not be a fir tree specifically, but it’s still in line with the Christmas theme, and best of all it’s super green!
For those friends and family members of yours that prefer a DIY approach (we all have some), the gift of a seed or seedling might be more appreciated than a certificate, so that they can plant that greenery themselves… and nothing says fun and sustainable like a ‘grow your own vegetables’ or ‘grow your own organic herb garden’ pack! Plus, it may make Christmas food shopping a lot less stressful next year… phew!
If you want to start Christmas with a bang, invest in some ultra-festive protection! And when you can buy a packet of 100 adorable snowman and santa condoms for just £14, you can definitely afford to pop some in the stockings of your loved ones!
This year the MTV Staying Alive foundation teamed up with Tinie Tempah and Kiehls to create this awesome, limited edition facial cream. £2 from each purchase goes to helping the MTV Staying Alive foundation in their mission to stop the spread of HIV among young people. Trust us, we all use this and it's transformed our office into a glistening hub of glorious skin.
Get a quality beauty product, and give back at the same time. Don’t believe us? Well did you know that 100% of the proceedings from Viva Glam product sales go directly to fund MAC’s fantastic HIV/AIDS work through the MAC AIDS Fund, their charity that was founded in 1994? This present combines beauty, fashion and goodwill, and it’s a perfect Xmas gift for a special someone!
Yeah we know this sounds really boring but now that you have to buy a plastic bag for your shopping in most shops, this gift is both ethical and a money-saver! Plus you can actually get some super cute bags that will go down a storm on crimbo morn. Make sure your loved one avoids the temptation to pay and does away with plastic bags, forever. Well, maybe just until next year when you get them another one…
WWF’s online option to donate and ‘help a penguin for Christmas’ is a winner. Maybe it’s because of last year’s John Lewis’s Christmas ‘real love’ advert where a young boy’s toy penguin comes alive and becomes his best friend, or maybe it’s the way they waddle, how fluffy they are, or the way they huddle together in the cold… for whatever reason everybody loves penguins, and they have become somewhat symbolic of Christmas. Pop a certificate in someone’s stocking saying they’ve helped a penguin, and I can guarantee their heart will melt. Donate to save the Arctic, because we don’t want anything else but hearts melting!
If your family, like Nic Cage here, appricate the power of wind then you're in luck.Christmas is a time of huge energy outputs – whether that’s through our excessive Winter Wonderland Christmas lights, endless cups of tea or vamping up our indoor heaters - and we could all do with the gift of eco-friendly energy! It looks like a little windmill, but don’t worry it won’t be a wrapping nightmare as it will probably come in a box… we hope. For a younger person, you could try buying a ‘little sun solar lamp’. Although these are cute they may be a bit optimistic – it’s probably going to be more windy than sunny this season.
give your loved one the gift of festive toasty feet with some recycled cotton socks. This present is cute, useful, small enough to stuff in a stocking, and reduces the need to turn up that thermostat… and the need for under-floor heating if your friend or family member is so inclined.
now this one is a great idea for a younger person’s stocking, or even for a friend who prefers old-school art methods. Encourage creativity and sustainability at the same time with crayons and finger paint made out of things like fruit, veg, plants and beeswax. You might want to keep some yourself too... just for making the… Christmas cards. Obviously, you’re too old for this nonsense…
Around December time, this charity takes around ninety children and their families to Lapland to give them the ultimate White Christmas. They get to meet the real Father Christmas, all his reindeer, ride in husky-driven sledges, drink hot chocolate and have snowball fights… they may even see the Northern Lights! Your friend will have had a hand in giving children with life-threatening illnesses and their families a magical treat that they will always remember. Pretty good gift, don’t you think?
- Emily Hooley
