What to give for christmas- some new ideas
Every year the same little game. What do I give my sister, uncle or father-in-law for Christmas? What is original, meaningful and yet beautiful? You can quickly run out of ideas, no question. After all, at some point the tenth shower gel or the annual pair of socks may no longer be the real thing and only gives half the pleasure. So if you’re wondering again: What to give for Christmas? – Then you’ve come to the right place! We’ve put together some cool, alternative and sustainable ideas for you that are guaranteed to inspire you and are something completely different.
Art meets Education
Giving photographs as a decoration for your cousin’s new living room could be a good idea, couldn’t it? Then buy the picture not from the Swedish furniture store, but from Art meets Education. Behind this is a simple but beautiful concept to provide children with education through art. Children are specifically sought out who, due to financial hardship, are acutely unable to attend school and can thus benefit the most from the projects.
In a workshop, the kids are introduced to the basics of photography. In the following week, they take their own photographs, which are then sold on the organization’s website. In addition, the kids’ photographs are exhibited together with interviews and texts. The basis of the work at the project location is a trusting alliance and stable structures with local schools and authorities. The contact is established by the project manager on site and our German team and maintained by our local field workers. And the photographs of the five to nine year old children can really be seen in every room!
Artful handcrafts from Namibia
Where do you get something like that? We’re talking about Penduka, a non-governmental organization (NGO) that works with women in Namibia. Penduka is based in Katutura, the former black township of Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. Here, 499 women are offered jobs. They are educated in arts and crafts, design and administrative tasks, while also being taught about health risks such as HIV. In this way, they gain a wide range of knowledge.
The women at Penduka make beautiful products. Such products that you like to bring home for decoration, or simply use every day and be happy about it. Products that enrich your life. A product purchased by you also means an income for the women at Penduka. Not only that, by purchasing our products, you are also helping to fund Penduka’s education and health projects. By purchasing a Penduka product, you show appreciation for the skills of the women at Penduka – and by doing so, you empower them much more than just financially. Go shopping here!
Here you can learn more about the accommodation Penduka offers on socialbnb. Just in case you ever want to travel to Namibia and see Penduka for yourself…!
Climate-Abo
Climate change is happening and is omnipresent. And most of us want to do something about it, too. A great idea is a climate subscription from ForTomorrow. Here you (or the person you give the subscription to) reduce your carbon footprint every month and offset it with various climate protection measures in Europe. You can choose climate subscriptions for a period of one to twelve months. The gift subscription will then be personalized and decorated for Christmas. You will also receive a climate gift certificate. Nice side-fact: you can deduct up to 45% of the subscription for tax purposes!
And how do you do that? – Again, it’s easy: You don’t have to calculate anything complicated. You can simply choose one of the subscriptions that can be cancelled at any time. ForTomorrow then uses the money to buy EU emission rights and plant trees to compensate for your CO2 emissions. The monthly impact report that you or the recipient receives celebrates your successes and motivates you to reduce your footprint even further.
Vegetable- or fruitsbox
The Christmas season is not really known for healthy eating and vegetables and fruit – it often does not go beyond tangerines or baked apples. Perfectly legitimate and super tasty, but all the cooler would be a healthy, delicious and even regional gift for the holidays. Fruit and vegetable boxes offer themselves for this super. Whether as a one-time gift or as a subscription – they are a great thing.
The transport and packaging is sustainable, the quality is organic and fresh from the fields, and the fruits and vegetables are seasonal. You can also assemble the boxes individually, if the prefabricated boxes do not suit you 100%. You can get vegetable or fruit boxes in almost every health food store and many farms. But there are also extra companies such as the Bauerntüte. If the whole thing is a bit too healthy for you, take a look at this blog post and instead of the 99-cent chocolate, buy one with a social impact!
Give trees with Primaklima
You want to give something extraordinary, but with special value? Then give away trees. At Primaklima you can choose between different projects (for example in Nicaragua or Germany) and then specify the desired number of trees. Anything from one to a hundred trees is possible – depending on the number of trees you choose, the price will be correspondingly higher or lower. Afterwards you can select that you want to receive a gift certificate, where you also enter the name of the person. By the way, up to twenty different certificates are possible per donation process, which means you can directly give trees to your whole family!
Primaklima has been committed to our climate for over 30 years by planting trees and protecting forests worldwide. Over 14 million trees have already been planted and relieved the atmosphere. Projects and partners are selected on the basis of transparent criteria, and sustainable project implementation contributes to ecological, social and economic development in the project region. Ongoing external monitoring and the involvement of the local population ensure the long-term success of the projects. Now that’s a cool Christmas present, isn’t it?
(Adverts unpaid)