By Patricia Houser
For Nature’s Sake
Patricia Houser
Santa Claus is going green. At least it appears that way from the number of recent articles on sustainable gift-giving in places like Good Housekeeping, CNN, Readers Digest and Rolling Stone as well as the more predictable Treehugger.com. And that’s encouraging in light of the World Economic Forum’s assurance that consumer choices play a role in addressing global environmental challenges. At the same time, on a personal and community scale eco-choices can also be fun and inexpensive while helping us establish new traditions and habits.
When it comes to choosing sustainable gifts, one approach is to consider three things: Can the item help reduce waste generally? Does it specifically address excess plastic waste? Does it avoid chemical toxins like PFAS? (This is a partial list; additional priorities would include, for instance, measuring eco-success based on carbon footprint.) Consider the examples below from just four categories of gifts.
Stocking stuffers: Smaller, less expensive items that help reduce plastic waste include reusable straws (the silicone variety are popular), a bar of shampoo soap and a handy reusable produce bag (the Connecticut Audubon shop at Milford Point sells a group of three rolled up net bags for $3.98). Bamboo-handled toothbrushes, a biodegradable item, are now in nearly every grocery store and pharmacy; a website for Registered Dental Hygienists has pointed out that conventional toothbrushes account for 50 million pounds of plastic waste in the US every year. Meanwhile, out of six eco-friendly toothbrushes, Treehugger.com rates the Humble Company’s $5 bamboo toothbrush as best.
Yet another item to switch out for plastic is the reusable sealing storage bag from Stasher; both Walmart and Target carry the Stasher brand. A final small item, helpful for avoiding chemical exposure, is PFAS-free dental floss. Floss can be a tricky thing to get right, but word-of-mouth (pardon the pun) favors the Dr. Tung brand found at Milford’s Big Y.
Kitchen stuff: There are three suggestions here. While it can be tricky for apartment dwellers, an important way to combat food waste is composting. A comparison of several varieties of countertop bins for collecting food waste is offered in another Treehugger article. (Electric composters are not recommended here.)
If a friend or family member finds themselves repeatedly restocking bottles of seltzer water (often plastic), this column highly recommends a portable seltzer maker. Treehugger.com awards its top rating in this category to the Drinkmate Sparkling Water and Soda Maker at Walmart for $111.
A key way to reduce human exposure to PFAS is to entirely avoid using pans and tools with artificial stick-proof coatings like Teflon in cooking. A good reference on this is the 2022 Consumer Reports article, “You Can’t Always Trust Claims on Non-Toxic Cookware;” the safest bet is to occasionally help family or friends replace non-stick muffin pans or frying pans, for instance, with stainless steel or cast-iron options.
Clothing: The series of chemicals collectively known as PFAS is widely present in clothing, including children’s articles where manufacturers add stain-proof or waterproof qualities. One brand for different ages that has banned PFAS in clothing, accessories and shoes since 2013 is H&M; Milford’s H&M is at the Connecticut Post Mall. For children, a clothing brand that has stepped up its sustainability standards is Hanna Andersson. Perusing their website for sleepwear or play clothes, family members and caregivers can be reassured by the highly regarded OKEO-TEX rating that certifies the item is safe from hundreds of harmful chemicals. See a previous column (“Five Ways to Reduce Babies’ Exposure to PFAS”) for websites with other safe brands.
The Hanna Andersson company has also embraced the sustainable measure of helping customers seek out used clothing; their website has a category called “preloved” which offers information on condition as well as notes from the previous owner (“worn only 10 times”).
Gift memberships/subscriptions/experiences: One of the best ways to reduce waste during the holidays, say environmentalists, is to offer more “experience based” gifts. A gift certificate to Fandango can cover the cost of a movie at the Connecticut Post Mall, and other organizations can provide a theater or museum experience, or art lessons. Locally, Scoot and Paddle, a business that rents kayaks or paddle boards near Walnut Beach, offers gift cards on their website.
Memberships to a place like the Norwalk Maritime Aquarium may seem a bit steep at $140 per year, but it comes with free admission for the member and a second individual for the entire year plus special member benefits. Those who make even a single visit to the aquarium in the coming days, for all the inspiration that offers, can also stop at the gift shop and do a bit of holiday shopping that will further support the mission and operation of the aquarium.
A Connecticut Audubon individual membership, at $45 ($28 for seniors), also brings attractive benefits, not least of which is the yearly mailing of the State of the Birds report, a highly readable and informative short synopsis that includes ecosystem conditions hereabouts. Other environmental nonprofits, including local watershed associations and land conservancies are worth exploring for gift ideas.
While online shopping can be problematic because of extra packaging waste, the gift options from World Wildlife Fund, with their symbolic gift adoptions of endangered species, can be a way to send a child a stuffed animal with positive impacts for an actual animal. And the National Wildlife Federation is worth checking for several gift options including their subscriptions to Ranger Rick and other children’s publications.
Those who pursue any one of the above options for gift giving should know they are part of a movement of conscious consumerism today. In the September issue of the Harvard Business Review, researchers suggest that we are “on the brink of a major shift in consumption pattern” which will favor producers and retailers that offer genuinely sustainable options. Businesses that will benefit the most, say researchers, will be those “that make good on their promises to people and the planet.”
Patricia Houser, PhD, AICP, shares her exploration of local and regional environmental issues in this column as a member of the nonpartisan Milford Environmental Concerns Coalition.