Gifts of time and experience, fair and second-hand gifts, reusable decorations and low-waste parties.
A concert ticket, a cooking class or an afternoon spent together can replace a present that ends up in a drawer. For a party, reusable tableware and decorations can often be borrowed from a local association or a tool library.
OxfamUnverpackt is the online gift shop of Oxfam Deutschland where each “gift” is a donation: a goat for €28, school books for €12 or clean water for 50 people for €44. The person receiving it gets a…
Alternative to last-minute gifts that end up in a drawer
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Artisans du Monde is a French network of fair trade shops run mostly by volunteers, selling crafts, food and cosmetics bought from more than 120 producer organisations in Asia, Africa and Latin…
Alternative to gift shops and chain stores selling crafts and food from unknown suppliers
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Ostheimer makes wooden toy figures and animals by hand in Zell unter Aichelberg near Stuttgart, from wood from Central European forests, painted and dipped in oil, and is owned by a non-profit…
Alternative to plastic toys and figures made far away
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Weltläden are Germany’s fair trade shops, about 900 local shops mostly run by volunteers, which sell coffee, chocolate, crafts, clothing and gifts from suppliers checked against fair trade criteria.
Alternative to department stores and online giants for gifts, coffee and chocolate
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The calendrier de l’Avent inversé, or reverse Advent calendar, turns the December countdown around: instead of opening a window each day, the family puts one useful item a day into a box, then gives…
Alternative to bought Advent calendars filled with chocolate, cosmetics or toys
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The Good Gifts Catalogue is a British charity gift catalogue: instead of an object, the buyer pays for a specific item or service for a charity project, such as a goat or seeds and tools, and…
Alternative to gadgets and presents nobody needs, and to charity gifts that go into a general fund
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Ethical Superstore is a British online shop that sells only products with at least one ethical credential, such as fair trade, organic or eco-friendly, from food and cleaning products to clothes…
Alternative to Amazon for gifts, food and household goods
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Vilac is a French wooden-toy maker in Moirans-en-Montagne, in the Jura, that has turned, sanded, lacquered and decorated toys in its own workshop since 1911, using beech, hornbeam, alder and box from…
Alternative to plastic toys from global toy groups
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Celebrating without waste
Donations, volunteering and non-profits
Shopping: online, marketplaces and local shops
Children, family and toys
