Ethical Christmas Gifts: How To Buy Fairtrade & Vegan Presents

As we get closer and closer to Christmas, ‘present panic’ becomes an all too common feature in our lives. Not only from lack of gift ideas for your work colleague, your dad, or even your other half, but also from the difficulty of trying to shop in the most ethical way possible.

During the pressure of Christmas shopping, the ideals that we uphold throughout the year can occasionally be thrown aside for convenience when choosing gifts.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. We’ve created a list of ways in which you can shop ethically for Christmas gifts!

How to Shop Ethically for Christmas Gifts

While it is possible to shop ethically at Christmas time, many people get caught up in the rush to buy for everyone – after all, who doesn’t like a present? In response to this, the highstreet becomes flooded with cheap imported products.

There are many issues with this. One issue is that in order to keep costs down, a lot of cheap plastic is used, which is dangerous for the environment. Another is that we really don’t know where our products are coming from.

Consider the disaster that happened in Rana Plaza in 2013, when 1,134 people died after a factory in Bangladesh collapsed. Just consider the working conditions that these people would have had even before this catastrophe. Is this the type of place you want your Christmas gifts made in?

Here at EthicalWARES we are very careful to source our products and, whenever possible, we use UK suppliers.

Fairtrade Gifts

One of the best ways to ensure that your gifts are produced in an ethical way, and that the workers are getting fair wages, is by looking for items that are advertised as Fairtrade.

Giving a Fairtrade gift means that you are not only making your loved one feel special, you are also helping others to make a living.

Fairtrade jewellery is always a popular item, as it’s both unique and handmade.

Vegan Food Gifts

If you are looking to buy ethically, and you know that you have a work colleague who’s vegan, then why not buy them some vegan food gifts?

Even for those people in your life who aren’t vegan, gifting them a taste of some luxury vegan gifts can show them that buying ethically doesn’t mean compromising on taste.

Christmas seems to revolve around food, but it’s easy to still be a part of this while not eating animal products. Everyone around you is sure to be amazed at just how good a vegan Christmas dinner can be.

Ethical Clothing Gifts and Accessories

Everyone likes receiving clothes as a Christmas gift. Yet with so much ‘fast fashion’ out there, it’s all too easy to buy something that has been made in a sweatshop, contains animal products, or simply won’t last that long.

Whether you are looking to gift your loved one a pair of 100% vegan boots, or are just trying to find some great value ethical gifts under £10 for a colleague, EthicalWARES have you covered.

And just coming into stock for Christmas are some amazing slippers made from a mix of recycled plastic bottles, organic cotton and recycled rubber soles! Very ho, ho, ho!

Choosing a gift for the man in your life can often be particularly tricky but we try and take the pain out of finding a suitable present for them. From gardening pouches to vegan leather tool holders, you can always find a great vegan gift for men here at EthicalWARES.

If you have a lot of people to buy stocking filler gifts for this year, or you need to find a low cost Secret Santa present for work, it is absolutely possible to even find some great vegan gifts under £5. Being ethical doesn’t meant breaking the bank!

Wrapping your Gifts

One of the main environmental impacts of Christmas is the sheer waste that comes from all of the packaging that gifts arrive in, much of which isn’t even recyclable.

Before you go to the shops to buy wrapping paper, consider if it’s really needed. Could you put your gift in a re-usable bag? If you do want to wrap things, why not go retro with brown paper and string? This is all recyclable and so much better for the environment!

When buying gifts online, check to see what packaging it comes in, as many ethical companies are already trying to reduce the amount that they use. Here at EthicalWARES we try to reuse as much packaging as possible, in an effort to get ever closer to zero waste.

From Fairtrade gifts to vegan chocolates, it’s easier than you might first think to shop ethically at Christmas. Staying true to your values means that you are giving people a gift that shows you really care – instead of just picking up the first thing that you see, with no thought about the consequences that buying it has.

Goodwill to all people means exactly that, which is why shopping ethically shows the true spirit of Christmas.

We wish all EthicalWARES customers a very happy Christmas!