Mother’s Day is just around the corner, and a hot topic is how to “green up” your gift giving for mom.
Typically, there are a number of things you can do to green up your gift giving in general, and a reader named Christina just emailed me an excellent resource for doing just that: Giving a Gift: Increasing it’s Impact by Choosing Green.
For mom however, here are just a few ways to go green in your gift-giving:
1. Send an e-card or e-gift. No wasted paper and you can even include music!
2. If you like to give flowers, consider giving a plant instead. It will last far longer than the flowers. If you buy flowers, buy local and better yet — buy organic.
3. Give the gift of time. Dedicate a day to mom. Or, if you can’t do it on the day, consider a “coupon” to be redeemed at a later time. Take mom out to a park and just walk and talk.
4. Give a massage or other personal service. Nothing says “I love you” like pampering.
5. Make something! Nothing is quite so wonderful than to receive a hand-made gift. My best friend makes me things every year, and I truly appreciate her efforts and thoughtfullness.
6. Re-gift! Remember when re-gifting was a “dirty little secret”? Well, no more! Now it’s called “re-using” and it’s totally “in”.
7. Make her dinner or bake a home made desert! This is a “two-fer”. You give the gift of time and food!
8. Do nothing — just call or visit. You’d be surprised how many moms actually don’t want a big fuss to be made! Mine included. We’ve opted to have a lunch together the week after mother’s day and that’s it. For us, the gift of time with each other is special in itself.
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Haha, those are some very good ideas. What I gave to my mom were Carebags reusable produce and bulk food bags. My mum loves her veggies, and so she was pretty amazed when I explained to her how you can buy, wash, and store vegetables all with one bag. You can just take home your veggies in the bag, wash them in it, and then store them in your fridge crisper where the bag’s touch of moisture helps keep the veggies super fresh. And I hadn’t even realized the versatility until my mum called me to tell me how she had grown sprouts, brewed teas, sifted flour, and made an earthquake kit all with the same bag! The packaging is simple and recyclable (just a piece of cardboard holding the five bags that come together), and my whole community really loves them. Once I heard how much my mum loved them, I had to get some for myself! Honestly, they make me feel good about grocery shopping, knowing how many plastic bags I’d be using otherwise.